


The Weight of Water on Cardassia

by DayOldHakarl



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Frottage, Interspecies Romance, M/M, Mermaids, Oral Sex, Violence, mermales, mutual petting, some death but no one we care about, stabbing with forks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-05-08 01:38:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14683727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DayOldHakarl/pseuds/DayOldHakarl
Summary: Garak, former spy and current janitor, discovers a captive, feral mermale who is being held for testing and…Guls know what else. Can Garak get this beautiful (but strangely silent) creature to trust him?Deep Space Nine meets Shape of Water meets Little Mermaid. Because why not.





	1. Chapter 1

Nothing unusual ever happened at the science facility. No experiments went awry, no machines broke and spewed dangerous liquid everywhere, no catastrophic gas leaks…

So naturally it goes to say that something unusual simply had to happen. 

Garak was a plain and simple janitor - at least, that’s what he was now. He used to work for the Obsidian Order and was a highly-regarded (if not highly-trained and highly-dangerous) spy, but since the war had ended he’d quietly stepped down and into the shadows, which is where he had the most fun. 

Nighttime at the Science Institute was the best time because very few scientists were around and the place was dark. There was only a gentle hum of some random machine down a distant corridor or the gentle whirring of the fans overhead. 

But tonight there was a great deal of noise.

Garak had noticed the noise as he was mopping the xenobiology floor. He stopped his task and listened. There was quite a bit of whispering - harsh whispering - and creaking and banging of metal against metal. He hid behind a corner and attuned his hearing to hear what was being said.

“Do that again, idiot, and you’ll be out of a job!” one angry voice growled.

“This stupid thing is so heavy…” a second voice complained. “Why couldn’t they get a smaller specimen? Why’d they have to get such a large one?”

“For a specimen this size,” a third voice mused, “it certainly looks underfed.”

“They’re supposed to look like that,” the first voice returned. “Now shut up and get it into the West Wing.”

Garak peeked around the corner to see three Cardassian scientists wheeling what looked like an iron lung across the floor. He thought he misheard, but he could’ve sworn he heard the sloshing of water. 

Taking his mop and bucket, Garak followed the scientists and the noise, stopping occasionally to give the impression he was still working. But slowly and steadily he made his way to the West Wing, pausing once more behind a corner as the scientists worked.

“Gul Dukat will be pleased with this,” the first voice went on.

“How can you be so sure?” the third voice from earlier asked skeptically. “This might cause a great deal of fuss from the Federa…”

“The Federation doesn’t need to know,” the first voice cut off quickly, “and I doubt they care about this one anyway. You said it yourself, he’s too small to cause much notice.”

“I’m not so sure, Fedat.”

“The Council and the Gul will be the judge of that,” Fedat resolved. “I paid a great deal of latinum for this specimen, so it better be worth it.”

“No amount of latinum is worth this,” growled the second voice.

“Stop complaining, Hartek!” Fedat hissed. There was some silence before Fedat spoke again. “There. All set. Oh, look - it’s starting to wake up.”

Garak strained to see anything through the small window in the doors but it was very hard. He did, however, hear a lot of banging and sloshing.

Fedat laughed. “Aw, what’s the matter, little creature? Are you afraid? You ought to be.” 

A loud bang - something hitting the side of glass - caused Fedat to laugh louder. 

“I don’t think you should do that,” the remaining scientist, the one who’d been voicing his uncertainty the whole time, spoke up. “I mean, what if he breaks the…”

“That glass is built for use on Terok Nor, I doubt this puny brat will break it,” Fedat said. “Come on. We’ll deal with this in the morning. Good-night, monster,” he added with a demented purr. 

Garak heard the footsteps of the scientists, so he quickly busied himself with mopping the nearby floor. Fedat and Hartek passed him without a second glance, but Garak noticed the third scientist glance out of the corner of his eye. You saw nothing, Garak thought, as if telegraphing his thoughts to the scientist.

When he was certain they’d left, Garak’s curiosity got the better of him. He leaned his mop against the wall and crept into the storage room. It was another dark room, this time lit with an eerie blue light. Garak noticed a large cylinder in the center of the room with what appeared to be water...and a creature inside.

Garak came closer. The creature appeared to be half-human and half-fish; its long teal tail fin flowed and rippled like an elegant gown as the creature sat with its knees (do fish even have knees?) drawn to its face, its slender arms wrapped around its tail, hugging itself.

As Garak came even closer, he noticed the creature’s short curly hair. It was dark brown, almost black, and it danced as elegantly as the creature’s tail fin was. The creature was naked from the waist up and had skin the color of polished bronze. It had a trail of soft spikes running down the length of its spine to its tail with two larger ones at the nape of its neck and the small of its back, where its skin met its tail. Squinting, Garak noticed a small silver circle with a gently-flashing red light on the creature’s neck just below its ear. He wondered what that was for.

“What in Cardassia’s name are you?” Garak whispered.

There was no way the creature could have heard him, but it had managed to cast one nervous eye his way. Seeing Garak the creature panicked, unfurling itself and pressing itself along the back of the tank like a wild animal. The creature glared at Garak from over its thin shoulders, flared ridges appearing on either side of its head and the spikes along its back popping open like clams. It bared its teeth, revealing small, sharp fangs. Even though it was angry, and rightfully so, it was still a thing of beauty.

“No, no,” Garak began gently, wondering if the creature could even hear him, “it’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

The creature tensed and narrowed its eyes. Garak noticed it had a purple tinge to its cheeks.

“I know you don’t have any reason to trust me,” Garak continued. “I wouldn’t trust me, either, if I were you.”

The creature continued to stare at Garak. Its gaze was intense and unceasing. A shiver flew up Garak’s spine.

“I want nothing from you, I promise.” Garak held up his hands to show he was unarmed. “And as you can see, I am unarmed, so I can’t hurt you.” He reached for a chair and pulled it in front of the tank and sat down facing the creature. “I’m just...curious, that’s all.”

The creature hesitated.

Garak sighed and held out a hand again. “See? I have nothing,” he repeated. He pressed his hand against the cold glass. “Friend,” he went on.

The creature looked from Garak’s face to his hand against the glass. Slowly the creature turned around, revealing a beautiful, youthful face and a svelte torso. Its right nipple was pierced and a trail of fine dark hairs ran from the bottom of its navel to just above where his abdomen turned to a tail. Garak felt his heart beat a little faster and he swallowed nervously.

The creature slowly moved toward Garak, going back and forth between Garak’s eyes and his hand. Garak smiled. That was a universal gesture of goodwill, wasn’t it? 

The creature stopped, and Garak could clearly see its brilliant hazel eyes as they stared back at him. They blinked as the creature cocked his head left then right, trying to understand what was happening here. 

Garak nodded toward his hand. 

The creature slowly retracted its fins, the purple tint fading from its face, looking almost human. It held up its own hand, revealing long, graceful fingers. Gingerly, it put its hand on the glass opposite of Garak. It looked up at Garak and, much to Garak’s joy, the creature smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so AU I don't even know how it's related to DS9 aside from characters, aliens, worlds, currencies... It's like tangentially related if you squint really hard and tilt your head 48 degrees to the right and if the sun is at the right angle you'll see it. Maybe.
> 
> Ratings and tags may change - this is my first foray on here aside from fangirlish commentary so please be gentle. There's nothing objectionable now but there might be. And yes, there will be sex. Eventually. I promise.
> 
> Thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed my fic!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garak and Doctor Parmak discuss mer!Julian. Mostly discussing his anatomy and alluding to his fate and his capture. More than one friendship begins to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discussion of Cardassian/merperson anatomy with help from tinsnip's piece on [ Speculative Cardassian Reproductive Xenobiology](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1719479). As the story continues there will be some more references to it.

The next morning, Garak arrived at the facility at his usual time and began his daily duties when he heard voices coming from the storage room. The one the creature was in.

Garak positioned himself so he could hear better, but he couldn't pick up anything. He did, however, recognize one of the voices: Gul Dukat. If Dukat was interested in the creature, Garak thought ruefully, it couldn’t be good.

“Run some tests on him,” Dukat ordered, the only thing Garak could make out. “Intelligence, stamina...whatever else you can think of for it.”

Fedat nodded smartly, “Yes, Gul,” he replied. 

“Pathetic-looking thing. Doesn’t even have any neck ridges.”

“But he has those spines on his back,” the meek scientist from last night spoke up.

“Spare me your false equivalences, Doctor Parmak,” Dukat spat. “How do you even know it’s male?”

“Well,” Parmak began, but Dukat clearly wasn't listening. Or he didn't care. Or both. He turned about and marched out of the room, Fedat and some bodyguards following. 

Garak tried to avoid Dukat’s notice but seeing the dark grin on the Gul’s lips he knew he’d failed. “Ah, if it isn’t the pride of Enabrian Tain,” Dukat crowed. “Ah, apologies: _former_ pride of Tain.”

Garak simply looked up from his mopping and smiled. “A good day to you, too, Gul Dukat.”

Dukat tutted. “A janitor at a science facility. My, how the mighty have fallen.”

“Not so much ‘fall’ as ‘sauntered off-course.” One thing was certain: Garak certainly had a way with words that was virtually unparalleled.

Dukat, however, was not easily swayed. “Yes, well, if you’d like to get back on course I could put in a word or two for you with the Council.”

“You know,” Garak began, leaning absent-mindlessly on his mop, “I might take you up on that someday. However, I’m more than happy spending my golden years mopping up your muddy boot-prints.” His smile widened. Pushing the buttons of people like Dukat was a favorite pastime of his.

Dukat sniffed as he turned up his nose. “Perhaps being shuttered away would do you some good. Try not to cause too much trouble.”

“My dear Gul, I would never!” Garak called after Dukat as he and his evil little entourage left. Garak’s smile morphed into a dirty glare as he turned back to his work.

He wanted to see the creature again, but he couldn’t, not with Parmak still there. Garak watched as Parmak paced about in front of the tank, his long white-gray hair pulled back into a braid. He was slightly hunched over. He was working on something that looked like a tablet, and he was typing fairly quickly with one hand.

“Go away,” Garak muttered to the scientist. Not like there was anything Garak could talk about with the creature, but he was fascinating to behold. Garak couldn’t place precisely why he was so enamoured with the creature. There was an intelligence behind those luminous hazel eyes, and Garak was determined to discover what secrets the little creature held.

“You can come forward if you want,” came a disinterested voice. “I won’t report you to the Guls if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Garak hesitated. That was Parmak. He hadn’t looked up from his work, not that Garak could tell, unless he was particularly quick about it. Still, the scientist had his back to Garak, so how could he…?

“If you’re just going to stand there, I’m going to assume you’re a coat rack and hang my coat off your nose when I’m done.”

Now Garak moved forward. He could make out Parmak’s silhouette against the creature’s tank, and he could just see part of the creature’s teal tail fin floating languidly in the water. “How did you…”

“Please, I know the staff here like the back of my hand,” Parmak answered dismissively, still not looking up. “ _You_ , my friend, are not only new, but you are interesting.” 

“In what way?”

To his surprise, Parmak smiled and finally looked up from his work. He wore delicate glasses over his astonishingly blue eyes. “You try to blend in but you do anything but. Oh! It appears he knows you.”

Garak looked at the creature, who was slowly approaching the front of the tank. He held up his hand and put it on the glass. Garak reciprocated.

“Fascinating,” Parmak noted to himself. “I haven’t been able to get more than a dirty look out of him.”

“That reminds me,” Garak began. “How do you know this is a male? It doesn’t have breasts…”

“Breasts are not a sign of femininity,” Parmak interrupted, sounding bored. “I’ve seen many men who have them. No, this,” he gestured to the merman, “is a male. His facial structure gives it away, though it's not as angular as a typical mermale, but not as soft as a mermaid. His torso is also built differently and sharper than a mermaid’s. See those fine collarbones? He may not have neck ridges like we do but his collarbones are just as sharp as the Gul’s ridges. And finally…” He trailed off.

“Finally…?” Garak prompted.

Parmak cleared his throat and gestured again to the mermale. “Well, he has a...well, we’d call it a _prUt_ and he has a structure similar to an _ajan_. Do you see that odd clustering of scales just below his hips? Just below where his skin meets his tail.”

Garak looked. Sure enough, the scales over where his _ajan_ would be were in a slightly odd configuration compared to the even distribution of scales across his tail. It wasn’t very obvious but once pointed out...

The mermale noticed Garak’s stare and indignantly pulled back, hiding his nether regions from prying eyes. He glared harshly at Garak and then shot another glare at Parmak before sticking out his tongue. Parmak laughed quietly.

“He does that when he’s angry,” he explained. “It’s a juvenile behavior so that makes me think he’s not that much past maturity.”

Garak cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed at staring at another man’s _ajan_. Even if he _was_ a half-fish man. Beauty is beauty, after all.

“Does he have a name?”

“Even if he did,” Parmak began, “he couldn’t tell us. See that silver disk under his right ear? That’s a neuro-disruptor. It prevents him from speaking and also acts as a…” He hesitated. “...a deterrent should he step out of line.”

“It’s none that I’ve ever seen before.”

“Nor have I. It was on him when we acquired him.”

“So remove it and ask him his name.”

“That’s not possible,” Parmak spoke slowly. “See, if it’s not removed with the proper tools, it will inject a neurotoxin into his brain stem and kill him. I hear it’s like being lit on fire from the inside.” Parmak shuddered. “Even the State isn’t that barbaric.”

“How utterly depraved.” Garak looked back at the creature, who was now swimming in a figure-eight motion. “What’s he doing now?”

“He’s bored,” Parmak explained. “It’s his species equivalent of pacing. He’s also in too small a tank. He’s not meant to be kept in an overgrown test tube; he needs a far larger space. But this is all we have, and the State doesn’t have much interest in keeping him alive or comfortable for long.” 

Garak sharply turned to Parmak. “What does the State intend to do with him?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, but the less I know, the better I feel.” Parmak sighed. “It’s a shame. He is quite the lovely creature. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Of course he would. But he didn’t feel like making that known.

“Is there an access hatch to this tank?” Garak asked, changing the subject. 

“At the top.” Parmak narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Has anyone tried...you know...talking to him?”

“He doesn’t understand Kardasi, I’ve established that much.”

“So let’s talk to him!” Garak suggested with a smile. “He may not be able to speak but he can use his hands. We can establish some sort of dialogue.” Garak walked briskly past Parmak, looking for a stairwell. When he found one, it was locked with a sturdy latch. Parmak caught up to him, looking harried.

“You can’t possibly be serious!” he gasped. 

“Of course I am!” Garak declared, affronted. “Think of it, Doctor. Aren’t you interested in this creature?”

“Of course, but…”

“Well then, one’s apprehension shouldn’t stand in the way of scientific progress!” He nodded at the latch. “Onward, my dear Doctor. For science!”

Parmak groaned and fumbled with an archaic ring of keys on his belt. The door creaked open as he gestured for Garak to proceed. Garak nodded smartly as he and the Doctor climbed the rickety stairwell. When they reached the top, they proceeded to a platform jutting out over the tank. Garak looked down and saw the creature back where he’d been earlier, sitting on the floor with a slender arm slung over his tail.

“How do we get him to come up?”

“Until I find a nicer way…” Parmak stepped forward and sloshed the water in the tank. The mermale shot to the surface and broke the water, angrily swiping his hair from his face.

Parmak gestured to mermale. “There he is,” he said to Garak. “Talk to him." It sounded almost like a dare.

Fine, he'd done odder things on dares. Garak sat down by the creature, who pulled back and snarled a little.

“Now really, you shouldn’t be like that,” Garak began. That wasn’t remotely what he’d planned to say. Then again, what _did_ he plan to say? _Hello, nice to meet you, how is the water today?_ Flat pleasantries were beneath him. “You know who I am. You saw me last night.”

“I _knew_ that was you!” Parmak spoke, snapping his fingers.

Garak waved a hand to silence him, focusing on the mermale. “Now, I’m to understand you can’t speak because of that device.” He pointed at the silver disk and the mermale quickly raised a hand to cover it. “I’m not going to touch it. Or you. I just want to speak. Do you understand?”

The mermale had stopped growling and studied Garak. He tilted his head left, right, and left again, as if seeing a Cardassian from a better angle would quell his suspicions.

“Do you understand?” Garak repeated.

The mermale rolled his eyes and pointed at the silver disk, then he tapped on his throat and shook his head. 

“Well, there you go, Doctor,” Garak said to Parmak, looking over his shoulder. “He understands us.”

"Won't do any good if he can't speak," Parmak noted wryly.

Garak narrowed his eyes and turned back to the mermale. "If you can understand me, can you..." He thought for a moment. How could he converse with the creature if he, Garak, could only speak and he, the mermale, could only gesture?

The mermale leaned forward apprehensively, waiting for Garak to finish his thought. Eventually, Garak simply sighed.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," Garak apologized. "I don't know how else to communicate with him."

The mermale withdrew and sighed. He swam to the far side of the tank and pointed to the doors. He looked over his shoulder at the two men, searching for understanding in their faces.

“Outside?” Garak asked, then backtracked a little. It sounded like he was speaking to a pet. That wouldn't do. "You want to go home."

The mermale nodded. He gestured to Garak and Parmak, then to himself, then out the door again.

"He wants us to help him escape," Parmak translated. He turned to the mermale and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. I'm afraid you're stuck here for the time being."

The mermale narrowed his eyes and huffed. That answer obviously didn't appease him.

"But where _is_ your home?" Garak asked. "You can't be from Cardassia. I've never seen anything like you before."

Garak may have imagined it, but for a moment the mermale looked proud of that. Almost like he was preening. It was almost cute.

"His kind come from a planet called Earth," Parmak explained. The mermale nodded at this. "But Earth is quite a large planet." He paused. "And quite far away."

"So getting you home would be an incredible challenge," Garak said to the mermale, who looked dejected. "I'm afraid Parmak is right. It doesn't look like you're going anywhere."

The mermale huffed again and ducked underwater. Garak and Parmak stared at the rippling waters where the mermale had disappeared. Garak was getting tired of this. "Now really," he went on a little louder, "sulking won't make things any better. Right now we're the only two who don't think you're just...you're just a glorified fish."

That was the wrong thing to say. The mermale resurfaced and smacked a wave of water at Garak with his tail. He hissed at Garak, who hissed back.

"You are not doing yourself any favors!" Garak shouted, trying to shake the water out of his uniform "We're trying to help you!"

"Maybe calling him a fish was insulting," Parmak guessed. He was very obviously trying to stifle a giggle.

"I did _not_ call him a fish, I said we're the only one who don't see him like that." Garak rounded on the mermale. "You need better listening comprehension skills, friend. And some manners. You don't just splash someone when you're upset with them."

It was like talking to an errant child. The mermale _tsk_ -ed, not caring one whit what Garak thought was right and proper. Instead he smacked his bare chest with his hand three times, then pointed at Garak.

Garak was honestly having none of it. "What does that even mean?" he asked angrily. " 'I know you are but what am I'?"

"No..." Parmak spoke slowly, stepping forward. "I think he's trying to say he's as much a person as you are."

For the first time in their interaction, the mermale smiled at Parmak and gave a sharp nod. That was exactly what he'd meant.

"I think you owe him an apology, Garak," Parmak went on. The mermale nodded again and looked at Garak expectantly, his slender arms folded across his chest. Garak sighed, annoyed.

"Fine. I am sorry for calling you a fish. You're obviously not, and I'm obviously wrong. Are we okay?"

The mermale thought for a second. He then shrugged and smiled, holding up his hand for Garak to touch again. Garak smiled back and put his hand to the mermale's. He couldn't stay angry at the little brat very long.

"Ask if he has a name," Parmak prompted, breaking the moment. Kelas Parmak: Moment-Killer.

"He can understand you, Doctor," Garak replied, annoyed. The mermale gave Parmak a similar look. Parmak sighed.

"Fine then, friend, what is your name?"

The mermale lowered his hand from Garak's and dipped it back in the water. Then he hoisted himself slightly out the water and began to trace Earth letters on the deck. It was hard to make out, but Garak and Parmak could see it was...

"Julian," Garak spoke. He looked up at the mermale, who nodded and beamed. He clapped his hands and his tail flashed around happily. Garak couldn't help but smile.

"Well then, Julian," Garak went on, putting a hand on his own chest, "I am Garak. And this," he gestured to Parmak, "is Doctor Parmak." Parmak bowed slightly in greeting, which was apparently the right thing to do, as Julian bowed in return. Then he turned back to Garak and held up his hand.

Parmak chuckled. "He really seems to like you," he noted.

Garak once again reciprocated Julian's request. This time he took notice of how his skin felt: slick and soft (except his fingertips, which were wrinkled) and...surprisingly warm. Garak’s heart skipped a little at the feeling. It was gentle, a little apprehensive even, but there was the beginning of trust. Garak began to want to thread his fingers between Julian's but that would be far, far too forward. 

The smile on his face was just as warm as his touch, as warm as the Cardassian sun. It was beautiful, so easy to get lost in.

Garak tried not to notice the slowly-growing purple tint in Julian’s copper cheeks, but that just made Garak smile a little wider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading! It will speed up a bit from here and get a bit more interesting...at least, I hope you find it as interesting as I do.
> 
> Also sorry, the significance of mer!Julian's blushing was removed in editing to tighten the pace. It will come up in another chapter, but there is a very distinct reason why he blushes - and why Garak is trying not to notice it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parmak explains to Garak why Julian is being held and asks for his help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Some graphic details about Julian's fate if left to Dukat and his cronies. It made me nauseated writing it so I just want to warn you, too.

The sun was setting when Garak finally got off work. He had changed out of his appalling jumpsuit and into something more comfortable. His mind began to wander to that new enigma tale he just started a few nights ago when he heard someone call his name. Looking over his shoulder he noticed Parmak waving and walking quickly over to him.

“Doctor, you’re off now, too?”

“Well,” Parmak began, looking away nervously, “I was waiting for you. I wanted to talk to you about Julian.”

“Can this wait until tomorrow?” Garak heard himself say. As much as he wanted to talk about Julian, at the same time he didn’t. He found himself getting attached to the little mermale. His fine bone structure, his sparkling hazel eyes, the way his hair curled oddly as it dried, that pierced nipple…

 _Stop that, Elim_ , Garak scolded himself. _He’s not even your species. Don’t be disgusting_.

But was it _really_ disgusting? If it was as Parmak theorized, they had similar reproductive organs. He began to wonder how Julian everted...if he even did. He began to wonder what his _prUt_ looked like…

_What did I tell you? Stop that!_

“Garak?” Parmak asked, uncertain. “Why wait until tomorrow?”

“Ah, well… It was a long day, and I’d like to get back home. Have you read the latest enigma tale? I hear it’s a hit in the capital…”

“Garak, please, this won’t take long,” Parmak insisted. “I really need to talk to you now.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Not here,” Parmak replied, his voice lowering. Garak had to lean close to hear. “There’s a lovely teahouse not too far away from here. _Please_ , Garak.”

Garak relented and followed Parmak down the street to a little teahouse that was practically obscured by the larger, more elaborately decorated buildings on either side of it. An elderly Cardassian woman sat outside, her snow-white hair pulled back into an elegant bun. She lifted her head when she heard the two men approaching.

“Ah, Kelas,” she spoke with a heavy provincial accent. “You honor me with your presence.” She glanced at Garak. “And who is this young man?”

 _Young?_ Garak thought, stifling a laugh. But then again, compared to this woman, he was practically a baby.

“This is Garak, a colleague from work,” Parmak introduced after a little bow.

Maman blinked slowly at Garak. It looked like she was trying to stay awake and he was keeping her from returning to a beautiful dream. “Any friend of Kelas' is a friend of mine,” she greeted with a little tilt of her head. Garak bowed from the waist much like Parmak had done.

Maman shakily rose to her feet and swept aside the fabric covering the doorway. “Have a seat and I’ll be right with you. I should have just enough Midnight Star tea left for a pot.”

Parmak bowed again; Garak copied him and followed him inside. They wove their way through the tight cluster of empty tables to the back of the restaurant. Parmak gestured for Garak to sit in the rickety chair across from him. The waning sunlight tinted the entire room gold. The same gold as Julian’s skin…

_You’re doing it again._

“I’ll start plainly,” Parmak began, thankfully pulling Garak back to the present. “Why do you think we have Julian in our possession?”

Garak shrugged. “Scientific curiosity,” he guessed.

“When has Gul Dukat _ever_ shown the least bit of interest in xenobiology?”

“Dukat has his own superiors to answer to, Doctor. Maybe _they’re_ the ones with the interest.”

“But a creature from Earth? One that has little to no value to Cardassia? Is that _really_ what you believe?” Parmak smirked. “Mister Garak, I thought you were a spy. Is your brain getting soft from inhaling all that cleaning solvent?”

Garak hissed. “How did you know…”

“You’re not the only one who has access to old records. And don’t ask me how because I won’t tell you.”

Garak scowled as Maman appeared with a fat gray teapot and a plate of four flattened balls about the size of Garak’s palms drenched in a thick red sauce. “There you go, dear. Let me know what else I can get you.” With a nod, she turned and left.

“Ah, she made us red leaf tea buns! How Maman spoils us. You _must_ have one, Garak; they’re just divine.” Parmak poured himself a cup of tea and passed the kettle to Garak as he helped himself to a bun. Garak’s spy training would’ve been very apprehensive about accepting a beverage he hadn’t prepared himself, but this was civilian life and sometimes you actually trusted people in this world. It was still difficult for Garak to do.

The tea was indeed divine. It was sweet but not too sweet and had the scent of freshly cut flowers and clean fresh air. “What’s in this? It’s delicious.”

“I’ve been asking for years, and all I get is it’s an old family recipe.” He settled his cup down and folded his hands on the table in front of him, looking at them rather than at Garak. “Unfortunately the Gul does not see Julian as we do.”

“That’s not a surprise. And how exactly do you plan to change his mind?”

“I must prove Julian is, indeed, a sentient life form to the High Council. I’ve bought some time - a month - but it’s not enough.”

“And if you fail?” Garak asked.

“Then Dukat and his lackeys can do what they _really_ want: to cut him into tiny pieces and sell them to the highest bidder.” Seeing Garak’s horrified face, Parmak leaned back and swirled his half-empty cup. “Didn’t you know?” he asked flatly. “Merpeople’s body parts have unique... _properties_ when ingested. They are worth a fortune on the black market.”

Garak was speechless. Parmak leaned across the table, practically putting his face in Garak’s.

“The notion of scholarship is a lie, Mister Garak. The State thinks I’m involved because of scientific research. Pah! I’m involved to make sure he remains in ‘pristine condition’. You know. Ready for the harvest.”

Garak’s stomach turned. He no longer wanted any more tea or buns (which he hadn’t sampled yet anyway). “What sort of properties do their bodies have…?”

“Medicinal. _Supposedly_ ,” Parmak added hastily, with a roll of his eyes, as he sat back in his seat. “Those spines on his back, for instance. They shield glands that spray poison when threatened. Snap them off and grind them up and they make a powerful hallucinogen.

“Oh but there’s more,” he went on, his eyes widening. “The frills behind his ears? They make him look more intimidating. However one belief is that if you cut them off, boil them, and drink the remains, you can cure paralysis.

“Their scales? A delicacy. Their tails? Used to make flexible armor. Their blood? An agent in a highly illegal but extremely desirable wine. And of course, their _prUts_...thought to bring sexual potency if prepared a certain way.”

“Please stop talking,” Garak begged, holding up a hand. “I feel as though I’ll be sick.”

Parmak smiled sadly. “I apologize, I really do. But this is the real reason why Julian is here. I can’t stand by and let him be dissected. Please, Garak. I need your help.”

Garak clasped his hands together and rested his chin against them as he thought. Was Julian even aware that this was his fate? No wonder the poor thing wanted to go home. But even if he didn’t know, being trapped in a test tube hundreds of thousands of light years from home was torture enough. And being unable to speak. Being shocked if you misbehaved. Being burned alive from the inside if you fought back. There was absolutely no good way Julian’s time on Cardassia would end.

“Why me?” he asked weakly.

Parmak chuckled. “Frankly I see the way you look at him, and I see the way he looks and reacts to you. There’s a connection between you, one I…” He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “...can’t _quite_ place.”

That was a lie. Garak was a master of language, but Parmak could clearly give him a run for his money.

“There is absolutely nothing for you to gain from this, Mister Garak,” Parmak admitted. “I am but a simple scientist. I don’t have much to offer except my - and perhaps dear Julian’s - eternal gratitude. In fact, don’t even think of me in this equation. Think of Julian. Think of those large brown eyes --”

“Hazel,” Garak interrupted without thinking. “His eyes are hazel.”

Parmak’s smile widened, as if to prove his point.

“What exactly do you want from me?” Garak asked. “I know nothing about xenobiology, little less merpeople. I’m just a janitor.”

Parmak absolutely wasn’t buying that, but he played along all the same. “Continue interacting with him. Talk with him, read stories to him. Share food with him. Anything, really, so long as you allow me to observe and record my findings. He trusts you more than he does me, and in my line of work, trust and patience gets you much farther.”

“And this won’t get me in any sort of... _trouble_ with Dukat, will it?”

“Now _that_ I can’t guarantee. Dukat has his eyes and ears all over the place, especially regarding Julian. I’ll give whatever explanation and excuses I can think of, but whether or not he buys them...that’s a completely different story.”

“He knows who I am, you know. Dragging me into this won’t end well for you, me, or Julian.” Garak folded his arms across his chest. “Are you _absolutely sure_ I’m the one you want helping you?”

“Don’t even think of it as helping _me_ . You’re helping _Julian_.”

“Does _he_ know what you’re doing?”

“No, and I’d rather he didn’t. No, he can’t know any of this: what we’re doing, what Dukat is planning...none of it. He must believe we’re doing this out of the kindness of our hearts.”

“He isn’t stupid, Doctor. He’ll figure it out. Then he’ll be angry we didn’t disclose this sooner.”

“Look at you, advocating for the little mermale as though you’re his partner.” That hit _way_ too close to the mark and both men knew it. “Still, let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. Do you agree to help or not?”

Garak sighed and glanced into his half-drunk tea. It had grown cold. The image of Julian swimming around in that tiny cylinder, in the cold water, pointing out the door and asking for him and Parmak to help him escape with his eyes...it haunted him. Even zoo animals were treated better than Julian was: at least they were protected from vivisection and being sold for parts. Guls, it stung at him, pierced his heart like a lance, hurting far more than he could have ever imagined.

Damn his curiosity. Damn the creature. Damn his wretched heart.

 _Damn everything_.

“Of course,” Garak agreed quietly.

Parmak smiled, and though it pained Garak to think this, he honestly wished he’d never met the beautiful mermale in the first place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Parmak's suggestion, Garak tries to bond with Julian. Parmak was asking for research purposes. Garak and Julian bond for another...

****The next few times Garak visited with Julian he tried to come up with lessons on Cardassian culture to teach the mermale about his new planet. Unfortunately this backfired spectacularly.

“What do you mean you’re _bored_ ?” Garak asked angrily while reading _The Never-Ending Sacrifice_. “This is one of the most influential works of literature in the Cardassian canon!”

Julian didn’t seem to think so. He mocked Garak’s reading by going slack-jawed and making a “blah-blah-blah” motion with his mouth. Garak was incensed.

“Now I’m sure you Terrans have _equally_ boring stories of your own,” he began, “but I certainly wouldn’t be so outrageously mocking as you seem to…”

"Perhaps you should ask him for a story," Parmak interrupted, trying to change the course.

"He can't talk," Garak reminded curtly.

"Julian is intelligent enough to act out a story, right?" Julian nodded at this. "Consider it a cultural exchange."

Garak rolled his eyes and sighed, putting aside his book. "Fine, then. Julian, tell me a story."

Julian raised a brow at the word "tell", but he didn't hold onto it for too long. Instead, he began to think of a story. His eyes lit up as he began gesturing to Garak and Parmak, ostensibly to pay attention. 

For the next ten minutes, Garak and Parmak found themselves watching the mermale's hands, face...his whole body became a prop for the story. Julian was incredibly articulate for someone who couldn't speak. He moved between a haunting grace and a jerking awkwardness, yet it was all very, very deliberate. His facial expressions told the story almost better than words could: his eyes would light up and dim within seconds, his face would fill with evil and then sadness in the blink of an eye. His long, delicate fingers were dancers on an invisible stage. Even his tail moved to a beat only Julian could hear, but the Cardassians could just imagine what it was.

Garak couldn't quite understand what was happening, but Parmak seemed to at the very least. Garak caught him making a few notes on a notepad, giving both his notes and Julian the same amount of attention.

"What is he saying?" Garak asked, his indignation washed away like silt in a storm.

"If I'm right," Parmak replied slowly as he typed, "it's an old Terran fairy tale about a mermaid who wished to be human after saving a human's life." Parmak glanced up at Julian. "Interesting that you should tell us that one."

Julian blushed, a small sheepish smile escaping his lips. 

"Is it true?" Garak asked, leaning forward. " _Do_ you want to be human?"

Julian paused, his arms still in mid-gesture and sinking slowly into the water. The expression on his face was not sad, but it was not hopeful, either. There was...something distant, something darkly dreamlike there, something neither Garak nor Parmak could quite place. Julian blinked slowly as he stared off into space, lost in his own thoughts.

"Julian," Parmak spoke quietly, "you haven't finished the story. The mermaid gave her voice to the sea witch so she could become human. And?"

Julian blinked rapidly and came back to Earth...or rather, Cardassia. He resumed what could only really be described as a dance at this point, but there was a far, far sadder tone to the story than there was before. A dramatic shift in tone that seemed to bring everything in the room to a dead standstill.

"What...what is he saying?" Garak asked quietly, almost afraid to know.

Parmak's face darkened. "The mermaid discovers that her human already has a lover, and the mermaid must then decide whether or not she will kill him - for if she does and his blood touches her legs, she will become a mermaid again and live. But she loves him so much that she...she can't do it. She throws herself back into the sea and..." He swallowed, his voice faltering.

"And?"

"She dies. Dissolves into sea foam. Merpeople have no soul according to Terrans, so she simply...dies. She loves her human so much it literally kills her."

Julian nodded solemnly. 

"But why would a merperson know a Terran story?" Parmak asked, genuinely confused. "And why such a grim one? Moreover, why did you tell us _that_ one, Julian?"

Julian looked away, and when Garak and Parmak followed his gaze they realized he was staring at his tail. The beautiful ballgown of a tail that descended from Julian's hips had become a teal-blue anchor pulling him deep beneath the waves. 

"You _do_ want to be human," Garak deduced quietly. 

Julian nodded again.

"But you were told that story to dissuade you...to say that you'd die of a broken heart. That'd you'd...become nothing." There was a certain ring of Cardassian culture in that statement. When one dies, they do become nothing. They sacrifice themselves for the State, and the State alone. One's goals and desires outside of that are meaningless and will lead to despair and punishment - be it from the State, from your family, or from within. Neither of the two Cardassian men wanted to point this out to Julian, though they knew it as plain as the _chula_ on their faces. 

It was completely against their culture to want something other than what was best for the State, but both Garak and Parmak suddenly desperately wanted for Julian's dream to come true.

 

\--

 

Another time Garak went to visit Julian, he noticed the mermale scratching his back violently. He swam to one side of the tank, rubbed his back against it, growled angrily, then swam to another side and repeat the process.

“What’s going on?” Garak asked Parmak, who was making notes on his tablet.

“He’s shedding a spike,” Parmak reported. “It just happens to be in a place he can’t easily access. It’s like having an itch you can’t scratch.”

Garak walked to the side of tank and knelt down by it. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

Julian rounded on Garak and hissed loudly before trying to scratch himself again. Letting out another growl of frustration, he dove sharply into the water. He resurfaced, angrily, and dove sharply in again.

“Can we help him?” Garak asked Parmak.

“I’m sure we could, but even _he’s_ having trouble with it,” Parmak replied. “I don’t know if we’ll hurt him if we try.”

Garak turned back to the tank. Julian had resurfaced and was hissing and growling like a wild animal. “Julian? Julian!” When he wasn’t responding, Garak splashed him to get his attention. Julian’s eyes raged as they settled on Garak. “Parmak and I want to help you.”

Julian narrowed his eyes and looked from Garak to Parmak and back to Garak. Then he twitched harsly and began to scratch violently again. Now he had drawn blood.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Garak reprimanded. “Come here and let us help.”

Julian growled but he swam over, wincing at the water entering his open wounds, and he thrust himself out of the water and onto the platform next to Garak. As he did so, Garak had to pull his focus away from Julian’s sinuous form. He wasn’t muscular by any means but this was probably the first time Garak had really seen his musculature. It was taut and firm, rippling just so under his skin...

Julian glared at the two Cardassians over his shoulder before turning away and hunching over. The offending spike was surrounded by deep red scratch marks, bruising, and an odd white substance where it met his skin. Garak absentmindedly touched it; it was loose, dead skin. Julian growled in response.

“Does it hurt?”

Another low growl.

“Yes or no, Julian. _Does it hurt?_ ”

Julian glared over his shoulder at Garak, but his expression softened as he nodded and looked away.

Parmak appeared at Garak’s side, studying the spike and making more notes on his tablet. “How do you normally remove them?”

Julian turned around and put his fingertips together. Then he pushed them up, like a mountain rising out of the sea. He did this a couple times until he was certain Garak and Parmak understood.

“I get it,” Parmak finally spoke. “You usually have someone massage it off.”

Julian nodded and faced forward again.

“So get to it, Garak,” Parmak ordered, gesturing to the spike.

Garak’s eyes widened. “I have to _what_ now?”

“Put your hands on either side of it and gently massage it off.”

“Why me?”

Parmak shrugged, but Garak could’ve swore he saw a smile flicker across his lips. “He trusts you.”

Garak huffed and turned to Julian’s back. There was hardly any inch of skin near the offending spike that hadn’t been torn open, bloodied, or bruised. Garak stretched his hands and wiggled his fingers. He’d never, _ever_ done something like this before. Well, _clearly_ . How _exactly_ was he supposed to do _this_?

“It looks like it’s prying up from the bottom,” Parmak noted. “That’s why it wouldn’t come off when you were diving, Julian.”

Garak took a deep breath and put his fingertips at the base of the spike. Julian winced and hissed. Garak did his best to ignore him and gently applied pressure in and upward. His skin was so soft, so firm, so wet… Julian continued to growl and hiss and jerk around, making it increasingly difficult for Garak to work.

“Stop squirming,” he growled. “I’m trying to move quickly but not hurt you.” He thought back to his time as a spy and remembered an old line Enabrian Tain used on him: “You have to put up with a little pain. Push it down. It’ll be over soon.”

Julian relaxed a little and sighed through his nose.

Garak resumed his work, working the hardened shell away from the tender skin. The spike was the same teal color as Julian’s tail, and the flesh where the spikes grew from was also teal. It radiated about an inch away from the spikes’ bases and then blended beautifully with the copper of Julian’s skin.

Slowly the spike separated from the skin, revealing more sinews of dead skin that promptly snapped as they were stretched beyond their breaking points. Julian sighed angrily through his nose and growled. He was doing his best, that was good.

“Just a little more left,” Garak reported as he kneaded Julian’s skin. “I’m about halfway up.”

Julian nodded and shifted. Garak noted how the droplets of water still clung to Julian’s skin like a garment made of diamonds. He snapped out of that and focused on how the spike was lifting from the skin. It was like removing a scab. It made the beauty of the diamond drops fade into nothing.

As Garak worked, Julian slowly arched his back inward and began making a strange noise. Garak tried to ignore this.

“Don’t move,” he ordered gently, trying to straighten Julian’s back. “You’re making things harder.”

Julian whimpered but did as he was told and leaned back into Garak’s hands. He resumed making that strange purring noise.

“What’s he doing, Parmak?” Garak asked. When he didn’t respond, Garak looked up at the other Cardassian. “Parmak, I asked you a que…”

But Parmak wasn’t listening. He was watching something that stunned him into silence.

“ _What is he doing, Parmak_ ?” Garak asked angrily. At that, the spike came off with a wet _pop_. Julian immediately and abruptly dove back into the water and swam down to the bottom of the tank. Not even so much as a thank you.

Garak looked from the water to Parmak. “Will you _please_ tell me what the hell was happening with him?”

Parmak cleared his throat. “Well, um… I apologize, Garak, but I think you, uh...you were…”

“Spit it out, Doctor.”

“Well, to be blunt, your massaging caused him to evert.”

Garak felt the blood drain from his face. “He...he _what_.”

Parmak put the tablet down and held his hand straight out in front of him and on top of the other. He poked a finger from the bottom hand through the fingers of the top hand, imitating an eversion.

“Is _that_ what you were staring at?!” Garak asked, heated.

“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s...it’s nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

“ _We evert all the time, Doctor_!”

“Not the way _he_ does, Garak. His _prUt_ grows steadily and slowly emerges from his _ajan_ . It was…” He swallowed hard. “... _fascinating_ to watch.”

Garak’s jaw dropped. “ _Fascinating_ ? Watching a man evert is _fascinating_!?”

“Have _you_ ever seen a mermale evert!?” Parmak barked, regaining his composure. “You’d be interested, too!”

“Oh for Gul’s sake…” He glared at Parmak. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you.”

“You mean to imply I _purposely_ made him shed a spike just to see his _prUt_ ? _Really_ mature of you, Garak. Do you think so little of me?”

Garak huffed and looked down in the tank at Julian. He was curled up along the bottom of the tank; the spot where his spike shed was a stark white against teal. He seemed to be focused on something - his left arm was moving rather jerkily. He seemed to sense Garak watching him, for he looked up, his eyes widened, and he curled into an even tighter ball. And then Garak realized.

“He _isn’t_.”

Parmak walked over and looked. His eyes widened as he backed away. “He is indeed masturbating.”

Garak winced and glared at Parmak. “Must you be so clinical?”

“I’m a scientist, after all. Besides, you helped me answer some questions.”

“Do I _want_ to know?”

“You know that purple that flushes across his cheeks? It happens either when he’s angry or when he’s embarrassed. But that’s not all. I noticed that as he everted he got the same purple glow across his chest. I assume it’s a reaction to being aroused...much like how our _chu’en_ turn blue.”

“You don’t say,” Garak replied flatly.

“Yes, much like yours were turning as you massaged him.”

Garak rounded on Parmak, who gazed back with a look on his face somewhere between impartial scientist and devious matchmaker.

 

\---

 

On one particular occasion, Garak wasn’t in the best of spirits when he went to visit Julian.

The mermale studied Garak and gave him a little poke on his leg when he noticed the other wasn’t speaking.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Garak explained.

Julian raised an eyebrow. Clearly he didn’t believe him.

“With all due respect, I’m not going to divulge my personal troubles to a mermale,” Garak replied a little harsher than he’d intended.

Julian blinked and huffed indignantly but then shook his head. He turned his head so that his right ear was facing Garak and made a beckoning gesture. He truly did want to know what was wrong.

Garak looked at Julian for a moment before sighing. “Alright, if you must know,” he began, “I’m...not adjusting well to civilian life.”

Julian swam to the platform and propped himself up on his elbows, his chin in his hands, giving Garak his full and undivided attention.

“I suppose it’s odd,” Garak went on, “you’d think someone like me would appreciate the calm, the quiet, the...dullness. But sometimes I feel lonely. Unchallenged.”

Julian blinked and pointed a finger at himself, confused.

“Yes, I know I have you, and I’m…” Garak hesitated. Did he want to admit what he felt about Julian? With Parmak hanging around somewhere, not quite. Not quite yet. “...I’m _grateful_ for your company.”

Julian beamed and propped his chin back on his hands, waiting for Garak to continue.

“It’s just that when I go home, and it’s nice to return home after a long day of work, it’s so... empty. So quiet. Sometimes I play music loudly and pretend someone else is there. It’s sad when there’s no one waiting to greet you at the end of the day, to ask how things were, to just...be there.”

Julian nodded and blinked slowly.

“I just miss having an intelligent conversation with another person,” Garak confessed. “Not that you _aren’t_ intelligent,” he added quickly, in case Julian was offended. “It’s just…”

Julian understood. He touched the silver disk on the left side of his neck and looked despondent. He then tapped Garak’s hand quickly, pointed to himself, and began to mouth words rapidly. Then he rolled his eyes and shooed himself away. Julian finally sighed and shrugged, before gesturing at his closed mouth and looking ruefully to the side.

Garak thought he understood. “You say...you’re normally very talkative, but people don’t like that and tell you to go away. So when you’re quiet, they’re happy.”

Julian nodded sadly.

Garak suddenly felt sorry for the creature. He wondered what sorts of things Julian wanted to talk about but couldn’t. He wondered what things interested him. These conversations were entirely one way...monologues to an incredibly bored audience of one (two if you counted Parmak, but Garak doubted he was really listening). There was precious little one could communicate with signs and gestures. This must be torture for him.

“I wish you could talk,” Garak said quietly to Julian. “I’d love to hear what you have to say.”

Julian blushed. He lifted himself out of the water and gently kissed Garak on the cheek before sliding back down, a grateful smile on his face. For a moment Garak thought he even saw tears in Julian’s eyes.

Garak touched where Julian had kissed him. It was so quick he barely knew what had happened. But it was definitely the quickest of pecks, and his face was a little wet from where Julian’s skin had come in contact with his own.

“Oh, Julian,” Garak whispered, as if his name were a secret. “My dear Julian.”

Julian smiled up at him and mouthed something that looked vaguely like _Garak_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not coming together for me. At all. I wanted to add a lot more to it, to make it both cutesy and silly and deep and all those things, but it just...didn't want to. It's a weak chapter but really it's meant for build-up to what's coming next. I thank you for your continued patience with me and with this story. I promise it gets better from here :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things take an intimate turn between the ex-spy and the captive mermale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS I AM CRYING. Thank you so, so much for your kind words on Chapter 4. I kept thinking it wasn't good enough but you guys showed me otherwise. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This story is for all of you.
> 
> Also we finally get to the Good Stuff. I told you we'd get here eventually! Warnings have been updated to coincide with this new chapter. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, kudos, and comments. You guys make this all worthwhile <3

There was one time when Garak came to visit Julian and found him sitting on the edge of the platform, his upper body out of the water and his tail dangling in it. He turned to Garak when he heard him come and smiled, patting a spot on the platform right next to him.

“Is Parmak anywhere?” Garak asked.

Julian shook his head. He made a gesture of eyeglasses (his sign for “Parmak”) and pointed out the door. He must have gone home for the night.

“You’re not trying to trick me, are you?”

Julian shook his head even harder. He wouldn’t dare think of such a thing.

Garak slowly moved to Julian’s side and sat down next to him. Immediately Julian held up his hand, their little greeting. When Garak reciprocated, before he knew what was happening, Julian had threaded his fingers between Garak’s own.

Garak felt very hot. “Julian, I thought we went over this,” he muttered. “This is very, _very_ forward. It doesn’t mean what you think it means.”

Julian cocked a brow. No, he knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

“Julian,” Garak whispered, his voice beginning to tremble.

Julian leaned forward and let go of Garak’s hand. Instead he gingerly reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along Garak’s shoulder ridge. Garak’s breathing speed up as Julian ran his fingers up and down, up and down, slowly and carefully. He watched Garak’s reaction with great interest.

“What are you…”

Julian put a finger to his lips, silencing Garak. He then extended his hand up to the ridges of Garak’s face, gently stroking them. Garak was surprised to discover Julian’s fingertips were actually soft. Then he realized Julian’s torso was completely bone dry.

“How long have you been sitting there?”

Julian smiled gently as his fingers made his way to Garak’s _chula_ . As he ran his finger along the rim, Garak tried desperately to calm himself. _He’s just curious_ , Garak thought to himself. But why does he know _exactly_ where to touch him? _Is_ he really so naive? Garak highly, highly doubted it. What in Gul’s name did Parmak teach him when Garak was away?

“Julian.” It felt sweet yet strangely heavy on his tongue.

Julian stopped caressing Garak’s _chula_ and held Garak’s hand. He guided it behind his left ear, where Garak felt a little ridge: Julian’s frill. He wanted Garak to stroke it. He wanted Garak to do what he had just done for him.

Garak obliged. He watched as Julian’s expression became relaxed and dreamlike, his eyes fluttering closed and his body pressing into Garak’s touch. He heard a low but very distinct trilling sound from the base of Julian’s throat. He was purring again.

Garak reached his other hand out to stroke Julian’s other frill simultaneously. Julian’s breathing hitched. Worried that he’d been out of water too long, Garak withdrew his hands.

“If you need to go back in the water,” Garak began, “I underst…”

But Julian yanked Garak’s hands back to his retracted frills and pointed to his tail. Garak understood: so long as his tail was in the water, Julian would be fine. Julian gave Garak a pointed stare and Garak resumed stroking. Julian relaxed and began to purr again.

After a moment Garak noticed Julian’s chest beginning to glow bright purple: first down his sternum, then across his pecs like a great bird unfurling its wings. Julian saw this and gently removed one of Garak’s hands and placed it directly over his heart. Not only could Garak feel a gentle heat radiating from Julian, he also felt the mermale’s steady heartbeat: _ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_. Garak put both hands on Julian’s chest and stroked the purple heat, causing Julian to close his eyes and quietly moan and rock slowly back and forth.

Then Garak felt brazen. He let one hand trail down Julian’s smooth chest until his thumb flicked over Julian’s pierced nipple. Julian let out a ragged gasp and pressed himself into Garak’s touch, the little dark brown nub of skin beginning to protrude against Garak’s fingers.

“What is this for?” Garak whispered, nodding at the piercing.

Julian’s eyes slowly opened halfway and he looked more than a little annoyed at having to give a culture lesson in the middle of a petting session. He made a gesture of rocking an infant in his arms, then expanded his arms almost wider than his shoulders.

“So it’s an initiation,” Garak spoke, still fingering the jewelry. “When you become a man.”

Julian nodded and placed his hands on Garak’s shoulder ridges again and leaned in close. He was so close Garak could feel the heavy intake and release of oxygen from his slightly-parted lips.

Then Julian gently rubbed his nose against Garak’s. And again. And again. It was quick, almost playful, but very, _very_ far from innocent. If Garak wanted, he could touch Julian’s lips with his tongue.

“If you’re going to tease me,” Garak whispered, a purring slowly arising from his own throat, “you’d best be prepared to follow through.”

Those hazel eyes were so enticing, so deep, so rich Garak could see himself in them. They were smiling at him when Garak felt Julian’s small, wet tongue run across his lips before he met it with his own tongue, locking lips with the mermale. Julian reciprocated in kind, pressing himself into Garak and putting a free hand behind Garak’s head and pulling him further into himself. Garak’s hands fumbled into position on Julian’s body, not exactly sure where they should go, but Garak figured if Julian had a problem, he’d let him know.

The moans his touches elicited from the mermale dismissed that thought immediately.

As they continued, Garak felt a strong aching in his _ajan_. He was going to evert…and soon. Though Julian had no desire to stop. Frankly, neither did he.

A bit of dark brown skin emerging from Julian’s own _ajan_ caught Garak’s attention. Was this his form of eversion? The dark brown shaft began to grow...and grow...and grow... until something very similar but very different to a _prUt_ appeared, firm and erect. It was narrower than his own but it seemed longer, and the head of it was different as well.

Garak touched it. Immediately Julian gasped and arched into Garak, trembling as he did so.

“Do you like that?” Garak asked, stroking him.

Julian nodded, his chest heaving. He began to rub around the vicinity of Garak’s _ajan_ , apparently looking for his _prUt_.

“Wait, wait,” Garak instructed. “Hang on.”

Julian sat back and huffed.

“No, no... _wait_ ,” Garak insisted. He removed his pants and undergarments and gestured to his throbbing _ajan_ . His _prUt_ had not everted yet. “You see? Similar but different.”

Julian studied the folds of skin, running his fingers over them and causing Garak to twitch. He nodded slowly in understanding. He pointed at himself, then pointed at Garak’s _ajan_.

“What are you planning?” Garak asked.

Julian pointed to himself again, licked his lips, and pointed to Garak’s _ajan_ once more. Garak suspected as much: he wanted to go down on him.

Garak nodded. “Yes,” he breathed, positioning himself against a wall and spreading his legs. “Go ahead.”

Julian smiled and lowered himself between Garak’s thighs. When Garak felt Julian’s tongue running along his slit, he convulsed in ecstacy. Wherever he learned to move his tongue like that, Garak wanted to shake that person’s hand. He’d probably shake it so hard it’d fall off.

Garak watched Julian work, or tried to - his beautiful dark curls practically obscured his view. But why watch when he could _feel_ ? Oh Guls could he _feel_! He felt when Julian’s tongue ran along the length of his slit. When he darted it in and out of Garak’s body. When his lips brushed against his folds. What a little bastard. What a delightful son of a bitch.

The time was coming: he was about to evert. “Julian,” Garak gasped. “I can’t hold it in much longer.”

Julian looked up from his handiwork (tongue-work?) with a confused look. His eyes darted back to Garak’s _ajan_ and up to his eyes, looking for meaning.

“I do...what you do,” Garak explained, pointing to Julian’s still-hard cock. “It...it hides and then…”

Now he understood. Julian gave a big nod and gestured for Garak to proceed. Garak finally everted, free of his inner prison, and onto his belly.

Julian studied it for a moment, and Garak began to worry that Julian didn’t like what he saw, that he was repulsed by it. No, on the contrary, Garak discovered as Julian wrapped his lips around the tip; he was trying to figure out how to work it.

Of course it didn’t have _exactly_ the effect that either Julian or Garak wanted. Julian was treating Garak’s _prUt_ like he would a penis of his own kind, and that wouldn’t do much to get Garak off.

“Lower,” Garak breathed. “You need to go lower.”

Julian removed his lips from the tip of Garak’s _prUt_ and began to play with its base. Garak hissed and bucked, trying not to hit Julian in the face with his cock. Yes, that was it. That was _exactly_ what to do. Julian was a very quick and eager study! _Bless him_ , Garak thought as he ran his fingers through Julian’s hair. _Bless the boy!_

Julian removed his lips from Garak’s cock, raising his body so that his own cock rubbed tantalizingly along Garak’s. It was definitely a different feeling, one that certainly triggered and stimulated both Cardassian and mermale. Then Julian began to nibble and suck on Garak’s shoulder ridges, bucking his hips to make his cock rub and dance with Garak’s.

“What are you doing?” Garak asked. It wasn’t meant to offend, he was genuinely confused. Though he wasn’t averse to whatever it was Julian was doing, it was a little confusing and unexpected.

The only reply Garak got was a low growl and a nip on the scales. Garak hissed again, his hips involuntarily rising and thrusting his _prUt_ alongside Julian’s. _Apparently he knows what he’s doing, so leave him to it, I suppose._

Garak felt something warm dribble onto his stomach. He felt Julian’s body convulse soon after as he pressed himself into Garak, gasping and coming in a number of little pulses. Garak found that he too was very close, so he allowed himself to fall over his own edge, coming hard into Julian’s scales and the trail of fine curls leading to his _ajan_.

Both Cardassian and mermale lay still, panting. Julian had his face buried in Garak’s shoulder, one arm draped lazily across his body and clutching weakly to his opposite shoulder. Garak’s head was tilted back against the wall and facing toward a stream of cool air. It felt amazing against his scales.

“Julian,” Garak whispered between deep breaths. “Julian.”

The mermale wearily raised his head and his eyes met Garak’s, his cheeks still a tantalizing purple. He smiled lazily back and brushed a stray hair from Garak’s face. He mouthed _Garak_.

“Elim,” Garak instructed. “Please, call me Elim.”

Julian was still for a moment before nodding and mouthing _Elim_ . Garak watched the little pink tongue in the mermale’s mouth and wished he’d mouth his name against his _ajan_ someday.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dukat and his council are aware of elicit happenings, forcing Garak and Parmak to acknowledge they need to get Julian off of Cardassia - and fast. A clue unlocks Julian's past and may be able to save him. So why is Julian so against using it?

After their romantic encounter, Garak couldn’t stop thinking about Julian. He wanted more than anything now to help him gain his freedom. He wanted to protect him with every little bit of life he had in him. He dreamt about making love with Julian on a beach somewhere, under a palm tree, as the sun set. It felt so Guls-damned real he everted in his sleep. Garak awoke wanting to feel Julian’s wet, taut body against his again. 

No, this time he wanted to feel his skin against his own; every bit of him touching every bit of Julian. Feel his tail wrap around his leg as he fucked him into a blissful eternity. Garak had long given up on any ideas of propriety with regards to Julian. It felt like being free, being weightless in a dream.

But the next day, when Garak went to visit Julian, his tank was empty. A pit formed inside him and swallowed his heart. They couldn’t have...no, they  _ couldn’t  _ have taken him already! Parmak had insisted there was still more time! Where was his Julian? Where had he gone!?

He heard the sound of doors bursting open and then slamming shut behind him. He turned to see Parmak walking quickly to him. Before Garak could even get the words out, Parmak held up his hand:

“He’s okay, Garak. He’s...he’s okay,” he panted. He’d obviously been running a great distance. “I’d...I’d hoped...to get here...before you...before you found his tank… He’s...he’s being tested… He’s...he’s fine.”

“Tested? For what? Is he…”

“Garak, he’s...he’s  _ fine _ . I tried...I tried to stop...but Dukat...and the Council…” He took a deep breath. “I had to let them, Garak. It’s normal, routine testing. He’ll be…”

The doors reopened then, and everything was not fine. Two scientists - more like two thugs pretending to be scientists - rolled a large casket-like box filled with water into the room. Inside, battered and bruised and possibly unconscious, was Julian.

“ _ What the hell did you do to him _ ?” Garak exploded, though Parmak held him back.

The two science thugs gave Garak a questioning look before turning to Parmak. “Your orders, Doc?” the taller one asked.

Even Parmak looked a little paler at the sight of Julian. “Place him back in his tank,” he spoke quietly, his eyes not leaving Julian’s body. “ _ Gently _ , please.”

The science thugs grunted and wheeled Julian to a lift, where they slowly rose to the access point of his tank.

Garak rounded on Parmak. “What the hell happened?” he snarled. “Why weren’t you with him?”

“Please keep your voice down, Garak,” Parmak instructed, trying not to show any emotion.

“What in the name of the Guls did they…”

_ SPLASH _ .

Garak and Parmak jumped and looked at the tank, where Julian dropped lifelessly into view. His head lolled like a ragdoll’s. Now it was Parmak’s turn to be enraged.

“ _ I told you idiots to  _ gently  _ put him back in _ !” he shouted as the thugs returned to the floor level.

The fatter one shrugged silently as they wheeled the glass coffin away. When the door closed, Garak and Parmak hurried up the stairs to the platform and stared down at Julian, who was still completely motionless.

“Oh no…” Garak began, shaking his head. “Oh dear Julian, no…”

Parmak removed his lab coat and pushed the sleeve of his shirt up as far as it would go. He then plunged his arm into the water and snatched Julian by the wrist. Garak helped Parmak pull the mermale back up to the surface and partially out of the water, resting him on his side on the platform. His breathing was very shallow. 

“Ssh,” Parmak cooed, stroking Julian’s face. “Easy, just slowly breathe, dear. You’re okay now.”

Slowly his breathing returned to normal. He began to tremble as he wearily opened his eyes and looked up at Parmak. He looked as though he might cry.

“I know, I know,” Parmak kept repeating. “My dear boy,  _ I know _ . I’m so sorry. I should’ve fought harder.” He nodded at Garak. “Look who’s here, dear. Garak came for you.”

Julian’s eyes widened. He tried to prop himself up on an elbow but he wasn’t strong enough to; his arm slipped out from beneath him and he slammed his head into the metal platform. He let out a strangled cry as he clutched his head.

Garak rushed to Julian and cradled his head in his lap. He stroked Julian’s hair as the mermale whimpered and sniffled. “I’m here, darling. I’m here.”

Julian looked up at him, his eyes red and swollen. He’d been crying before. He mouthed  _ Help me, Elim _ before dissolving into tears.

Garak was about to lay into Parmak for not knowing what they’d do to Julian, but when he opened his mouth to scold him, he noticed Parmak was utterly infuriated.

“They know,” he finally spoke, his fists clenched so tightly they shook. “They know we’re trying to protect him. They’re hurting him to get to us. The  _ bastards _ !” He hissed angrily. “We don’t have much time left, Garak. We have to act fast to save him.”

“How do you suppose we do that?” Garak asked, his voice tinged with anger. “Shall we hide him under a blanket and throw him into the sea?”

Parmak was not having any of Garak’s smart attitude. Realizing he wasn’t helping, Garak lowered his head and focused on Julian, who was slowly calming back down. But this time, he noticed something he’d never noticed before: there was a strange mark high on the inside of his right bicep, almost at his armpit. It looked like a tiny yet ornate “B”.

“Was this there when you got him?” Garak asked, pointing to the mark on Julian’s arm.

Parmak leaned over to examine it. “It had to be,” he replied, “it’s too old to have been done recently.” 

Garak touched Julian’s cheek. “Julian, dear,” he spoke gently. “I know you’re tired, but can you tell us about that mark on your arm? What is it?”

Julian’s eyes fluttered open once more as he processed Garak’s request. He glanced at his right arm and his eyes widened. He looked back up at Garak and Parmak and shook his head and mouthed  _ no _ over and over.

“Is it something that might help you?” Parmak asked.

Julian shook his head even harder and continued mouthing  _ no _ . Parmak put a hand on his shoulder.

“Enough,” he ordered gently. “I don’t want you to stress yourself out, dear.” 

Julian didn’t look calmed. He covered the mark with his left hand and retreated further into Garak’s lap. Garak stroked his hair. 

<< _ That mark might help us figure out where exactly he comes from on Earth _ , >> Parmak spoke in Kardasi. It was such a shock to Garak he almost didn’t understand him.

<< _ He doesn’t want us to know, though _ , >> Garak reminded, also in Kardasi. 

<< _ We are running out of options, Garak _ , >> Parmak hissed. << _ We need any lead we can find _ . >>  He held up his tablet. << _ I’ll look for that mark in the Terran database. If we can connect it to a group on Earth, we might find people who can help him _ . >> He glanced up at Garak. << _ It may mean he has to leave us _ . >>

<< _ I’m aware _ , >> Garak replied, stroking Julian’s skin. He’d appeared to have fallen asleep. << _ Perhaps I could go with him _ . >>

Parmak gently shook his head and put a hand on Garak’s shoulder.  _ << Let’s not think about our goodbyes right now. Let’s enjoy the time we all have left together _ . >> His eyes fell to Julian’s sleeping form. << _ However little of it we may have _ . >>

Garak nodded and looked back down at Julian, whose face twitched as he whimpered and cuddled closer to Garak.  _ I will do right by you, my love _ , Garak thought, touching Julian’s hand.  _ I won’t let them lay another hand on you _ .

Julian gripped Garak’s hand, as if to say he’d understood.

 

\--

 

Later that night, when Garak was back home and just about to go to sleep, his communicator chirped. He picked it up off the nightstand and clicked it on. Parmak’s wild-eyed face stared back at him.

“I’m sorry for the lateness of this message,” Parmak began immediately, not giving Garak a moment to respond, “but that mark. It’s from the Bashir family. They’re…” He shook his head. “Julian is the heir to a great fortune, Garak. His father controls shipping off the coast of England, in the North Sea. Nothing goes into or out of the area without his approval.”

“So you’re hoping to sway the Council with his family’s wealth.”

“He comes from money  _ and power _ . The Council doesn’t need the kind of attention a custody battle over a shipping magnate’s son will bring.” Parmak beamed. “Garak,  _ we’ve saved him _ !”

“But you saw him,” Garak cautioned. “He doesn’t want us to stick our noses in this.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it if it gets him out of here, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you want your father to intervene on your behalf?”

_ You  _ really  _ don’t know my father _ , Garak thought darkly. If it came down to death or Tain rescuing him and holding it over his head for the rest of his mortal life (his  _ or _ Garak’s - take your pick), he’d choose death. 

“I really don’t think this is a good idea, Parmak,” Garak began, but Parmak cut him off.

“Do you want Julian to leave here alive or diced into a meal, Garak?” he snarled, shocking Garak and reminding him of what exactly was at stake here. “Let Julian be angry at us. It’s worth it, isn’t it? As far as I’m concerned, it’ll be worth it. Damnit, Garak, I thought you loved him.”

Garak blushed and shrunk a little bit into himself.

“Now that we have  _ that  _ out of the way, are you in? We’re gonna get him home if it’s the last thing either one of us do, understand?”

Garak nodded. “Of course I do. Let’s protect our dear Julian.”

Parmak softened. “ _ Your _ dear Julian. He’s always been yours. He loves you deeply. I’m so happy you both finally admitted it to each other. Good-night, Garak. Wish me luck.”

 

\---

 

A number of days passed without event. Garak would ask Parmak about the mark or about Julian’s father (without Julian listening or understanding, of course) and what he, Parmak, was doing but the elder Cardassian remained impressively tight-lipped about it. 

The only thing Parmak told Garak to do was to keep his distance from Julian for the time being. This proved to be easier said than done: now that Garak had seen what sort of “testing” (and he used the term loosely) Julian had been subjected to, it was harder to keep away. He instinctively wanted to be by the mermale’s side. He wanted to protect him as a vole would protect its young. He’d take on the whole damn Council if it meant he’d save Julian’s life - as dangerously foolish as that thought was. Perhaps that was why Parmak had ordered him away.

Julian did not like this development one bit, either. Because he couldn’t see Garak as often as he wanted, he became more petulant and difficult to work with. Parmak assured Garak (over countless pots of red leaf tea) he’d explained the situation to Julian that this was to protect them all from higher-level scrutiny, but the mermale simply would not have it. Parmak begged for Julian to be more cooperative, to be more docile and compliant, but he’d quickly returned to his feral state and lashed out at anyone who came close to him - including Parmak.

“Those damned spikes hide acid shooters,” Parmak explained to Garak one day, holding up a hastily-bandaged hand. “My hand will be scarred for life.”

“Let me talk to him, Parmak,” Garak pleaded. “Maybe I can get through to him.”

But Parmak simply shook his head. “You both need to trust me here,” he would say, over and over and over again. “You must believe I know what I’m doing.”

“I believe a great many things, Parmak, but unfortunately you are not one of them.”

Parmak only smirked in response. 

 

\---

 

When Garak heard mutterings about the Council receiving an “emotional” call from Earth, his mind began to put the pieces together. Parmak contacted Julian’s father - or at least found someone who could do it for him. Garak should have been happy - perhaps Julian would finally be returned to his home - but something was not right here. He still held that Parmak was sticking his scaly nose where it shouldn’t belong. He was causing far more harm than good.

Finally, after so much nervous tension, Garak spotted a contingent of guls - led by that snake Dukat of course - marching toward the lab where Julian was kept. They had an interstellar communication device with them. Now was the moment of truth.

There was no way a lowly janitor would be allowed to hear the proceedings, so Garak snaked his way into the lab just behind the final Gul and allowed the darkness to absorb him. He weaved his way through various chambers and instruments before he had a clear view of Dukat and the other Guls speaking with Parmak, who was standing in front of Julian’s tank.

“Have you spoken to it?” Dukat asked, eyeing Julian suspiciously. Julian was out of Garak’s sight but he was probably sitting at the bottom of his tank and glaring.

“ _ He _ doesn’t know,” Parmak replied, emphasizing Julian’s sex. “I felt it would be better if he were...surprised.”

“And you don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

Parmak shrugged. “I’m but a simple scientist, Dukat. Not a party planner.”

Garak smirked. Maybe Parmak had been hanging around him too long.

Dukat’s irritation permeated through the air like a thick fog. “That will be enough, Doctor. Rouse the creature. Activate the transceiver.”

Parmak nodded and turned to speak to Julian as the others in Dukat’s contingent turned on the interstellar transceiver. The blue light of the hologram flickered to life, showing an elder mermale. He was stately-looking, which is a polite way of saying he was intimidating: he had spikes similar to Julian’s but they were in two rows down his back instead of one, and they were far sharper and extended out further. His tail had two fins unlike Julian’s one. He was not bare-chested as Julian was; rather he wore what appeared to be a drape of spun gold decorated with fine chains and baubles. When Garak moved to get a better view of the mermale’s face, he recognized much of Julian in the elder’s sharp gaze and angular bone structure, but there was also a harshness Julian’s face never held. Julian could be angry, yes, and there were hints of Julian’s anger in the elder’s face, but there was something...darker, worn, unforgiving. Where Julian burned, this elder simmered.

But there was no mistaking the family resemblance: this had to be Julian’s father. And in him Garak saw his own father: all the things he had come to loathe about him were presented in the shell of a merperson. No wonder Julian wanted nothing to do with him.

“Lord Richard Bashir,” Dukat began in his oiliest of tones, “I am Gul Dukat of Cardassia. I present to you your son, Duke Julian Subatoi Bashir.”

“Show me my boy,” Richard ordered. He had a clipped accent...Garak had heard it once referred to as “received pronunciation” from a region on Earth known as England. He wondered if Julian spoke the same way.

Dukat bowed and gestured to the tank, where Parmak was whispering things to Julian. He lifted his head, and the moment he saw his father his expression instantly turned from a blank slate into a boiling rage. His frills shot out as he swam forward, banging on the glass and hissing at Parmak. 

“Julian, stop that this instant!” Richard bellowed.

Julian rounded on his father and flashed his teeth. He slammed his fist into the glass even harder.

“Control him,” Dukat muttered. A Cardassian in uniform stepped forward and pressed a button on a remote.

Instantly Julian tensed and shook violently, his eyes rolling back into his skull, his mouth open in a silent scream. Just as quickly, the uniformed Cardassian released the button and Julian went limp, breathing heavily, his frills retracting. Richard didn’t react to this. Garak ruefully wondered why he thought otherwise.

“Julian,” Richard began in a measured tone, “your mother and I have been very worried. We’ve searched everywhere. We had no idea you were captured by poachers.”

Julian wearily lifted his head and glared at his father. He put a hand against the tank wall to steady himself.

“We have told you  _ countless times _ to not go to the surface,” Richard continued. “Now you see why. Consider this a lesson well-learned.”

Julian narrow his eyes. 

“What are your terms?” Richard asked, turning to Dukat. “I assume I have to pay some exorbitant fee to get my son home.”

“We’d rather not talk in fees so much as  _ privileges _ ,” Dukat replied. “We Cardassians would like priority access to the ports you control. We want no port fees, no tariffs on Cardassian imports, and no penalties for exporting Terran goods.”

“I never thought Cardassians would  _ sink  _ to using Terran products when their own are just  _ so  _ much better.”

So  _ that’s  _ where Julian gets his attitude from.

“We’d at least like the option, should it so arise,” Dukat explained. 

Richard sighed. “You’re asking for a lot.”

“Do you want your son home or not?” Surprisingly, that outburst came from Parmak. Garak’s brows raised approvingly.

Richard eyed the doctor suspiciously before turning back to Dukat. “Priority access and waived docking fees. That’s all I can grant.”

Dukat shrugged. “Fine. Then in that case we’ll keep him for testing…”

“Enough!” Richard interrupted, thrusting a hand forward. Garak now noticed the gold cuffs on his forearms. “Fine. It shall be done. Now, when can I expect Jules back?”

Julian bristled at this. He banged his fist against the wall of the tank to get his father’s attention and slapped himself on the chest. Richard responded only with an eyeroll.

“Yes, yes, you’re not Jules anymore...you’re  _ Julian _ . I don’t know why you’re making a fuss. I named you after your great-great-grandfather.”

Julian scoffed and folded his arms across his chest.

“Why do you do this, son?” Richard asked. It wasn’t a question, it was exasperation. “We’ve done so much for you. Your mother…”

For some reason, Julian lashed out at the mention of his mother. His frills extended again and his cheeks turned purple as he hissed and turned his back to Richard.

“Amsha is  _ as good as _ your mother, God rest her soul,” Richard continued, his voice rising angrily. “You will  _ not  _ disrespect her that way.”

Julian looked over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out. Richard was incensed.

“God forbid you  _ ever  _ have children of your own, you impertinent little tadpole. Which reminds me, your wedding to the Duchess Jahira is coming up, and people are saying you  _ deliberately  _ got yourself captured in order to get out of it.” He laughed darkly, but he clearly wasn’t amused. “That can’t  _ possibly  _ be true, now can it?”

Julian turned around, retracted his frills, and shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Don’t be flippant with me, boy. You should be grateful the Archduke still agrees to the marriage. Jahira is a very lovely young mermaid and…”

Julian twirled a finger by his ear and rolled his eyes, his jaw going slack. Richard was angered.

“ _ Who cares if Jahira is unintelligent and dull? _ She can produce a male heir and secure an alliance. What more do you want? Your mother and I were arranged to be married and we were perfectly…”   


Julian pointed harshly at Richard and slid a finger across his throat. Garak took a step back and put his hand to his mouth. Was Julian saying his father had his birth mother killed?

“That. Is.  _ Enough _ . Boy,” Richard spoke slowly, barely concealing his rage. “You know as well as I your mother died shortly after you were born. You were a complicated child then, and you’re a complicated child now. It’s because of you that she died.”

That instantly set Julian off. His face and chest turned a dark purple, his frills emerged with force, and the spikes on his back spread wide. Bubbles spewed from Julian’s mouth as he wordlessly screamed at his father. Garak fought himself to come bursting from his hiding place and tear into Richard himself.  _ My God,  _ Garak thought darkly _ , Richard and Tain would get along like a house on fire - and create the same amount of destruction. _

“ _ That’s _ his mother’s side,” Richard noted, crinkling his nose in disgust but otherwise not reacting. “Those bloody frills. That hideous purple. He looks like a wild fish rather than a civilized merperson.”

“What was it you said before ‘Complicated child’?” Parmak asked, voicing Garak’s own thoughts. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, aside from his... _behavioral_ issues,” Richard began, giving a curt nod at Julian’s tirade and folding his arms across his chest, “he’s got _physical_ problems, too. Look at that tail, for instance. _Only_ _one_ fin! He’s deformed! And his spikes - only one row, and they’re _stumps_! His mother _insisted_ he was fine the way he was, but I knew better. I tried to spare him the ridicule of those defects and tried to change him, but alas.”

“What...what else did you do to him?” Parmak asked, aghast. “Julian is an excellent example of a young mermale in top physical health…”

“That’s because of his treatments, eh... _ Doctor _ , was it? He was slow mentally so we...sped him up, as it were. He could hardly swim in a straight line and now he’s one of the fastest merpeople in my realm.” He snorted. “He claims Duchess Jahira is dull? Funny, really, considering he himself was duller than a box of rocks as a boy.”

Garak noticed he had moved forward toward the group and away from his hiding place. He had moved without thinking. He was so angry, so enraged by how Julian’s father had treated his only son that, were it possible, Garak would’ve torn the bastard apart limb from limb on the spot. But that would not solve anything - well, other than Garak’s desire for revenge. 

But then an uncomfortable thought came upon him. Was he in love with the real Julian or a remodeled doll? Something whole or something broken and remade into an ideal image? Something real...or something fake?

_ No _ , Garak thought,  _ no matter what he is, he is still my Julian. He is still my dear, beautiful, perfect Julian. _ And no selfish bastard of a father could ever,  _ ever  _ change him.Julian was beautiful with his ballgown tail and his stubby spikes. His dark curls and his bright hazel eyes. His sparkling smile and his imaginative mind. And his determined, spirited heart. Guls, everything about him was beautiful! 

Tears stung Garak’s eyes as he thought back to his own childhood...of being locked in small rooms for hours on end without food...on being starved for affection until he’d proven himself to be the true and rightful son of Enabrian Tain… Of the nights he’d hear his mother begging, pleading with Tain to be easy on the boy, he’s a sensitive soul,  _ for the love of the Guls, Tain, stop trying to destroy my baby! _

Garak studied Julian. He had calmed down but rage continued to radiate from his body and threatened to smother everyone present...especially his father. Garak could barely make out the twitching in Julian’s upper lip, the vibration of his frills, the clenching of his hands...even his tail seemed ready to turn into a weapon.

“So you’ll come home, marry the Duchess, and we’ll pretend this whole thing never happened,” Richard declared.

Julian straightened. He held his head high (and Garak could now easily see the aristocracy that flowed through the mermale’s veins) and looked down his nose at his father. He remained this way for a few seconds before turning away, folding his arms across his chest. He had made his decision. He was not going anywhere.

“ _ You insolent little brat! _ ” Richard exploded. “Fine then! Stay! Spend the rest of your miserable, ungrateful life in a bloody test tube! It’s more than you deserve, anyway!”

Dukat, who had been very oddly silent during this entire exchange, finally stepped forward. “What...what exactly are you saying, sir?”

“He’s your problem now, Gul,” Richard fumed. “Do whatever you want with him. Put him in a zoo. Dissect him and sell him for scrap for all I care.” He turned his attention back to Julian, who had turned back around and now wore an expression of utter shock. “That boy is no son of mine.”

Now Julian began to crumble. His anger dissolved into genuine, unbridled fear. He slowly shook his head, his eyes wide, his jaw slack, the color draining from his face, his frills retracting. Garak could make out Julian mouthing something that looked like “No...no...no!” He swam to the front of the tank and put his hands to the glass, staring in horror at his father, shaking his head faster now, his eyes asking “How could you do this to me?”

“You had your chance, boy,” Richard declared. It was the same dark tone Tain had used on Garak so many times before. “I’ve stuck my neck out for you more times than I can count. It’s better to write you off for good this time. Perhaps you should have listened. Perhaps you should have obeyed.” And with that, the transmission cut out.

Julian deflated. His eyes welled with tears as his lips began to tremble. He burst into tears as he pounded on the glass, desperate. He sank to the base of the tank and hung his head as he continued to sob bitterly.

“Well, Doctor,” Dukat began, his face barely hiding his utter glee at this development, “it looks like your wish for a happy reunion shall never come to pass.” He glanced at Julian as if to make certain the mermale heard his words. 

And he had. Julian lifted his head and turned to Parmak, who was considerably paler than he was before. The doctor looked from Dukat to Julian and back again, from sick joy to utter betrayal. Parmak tried to say something but words were failing him spectacularly. 

“That will be all, Doctor,” Dukat concluded. “You’ve done a great service to the Cardassian state.” He motioned for the other Guls to leave, and as he walked past, Garak could see he was no longer hiding that ugly smirk.

Garak closed his eyes and fought back tears. He had been right, and he loathed himself for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing "Father of the Year" Richard Bashir. Yes, that's right: I made a bastard an _even bigger_ bastard. I know, I didn't think it was possible, either.
> 
> Ps. Garak's deductions are indeed correct.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is of the essence. Garak and Parmak must save Julian by any means possible. Even if it is slightly illegal...
> 
> (Featuring an appearance from everyone's favorite Ferengi!)

“Don’t. Say. Anything.”

Garak emerged from his hiding place moments after Dukat and the others had left, when he was certain they were gone. Parmak was a hollow shell, staring blankly out from behind his glasses, the light in his eyes extinguished, his face expressionless.

Garak shook his head. “I’m not that kind of man, Kelas.” He took a breath and put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. He was surprised at how thin he was. 

He turned to Julian, who was still crying at the bottom of his tank. He looked up at Garak and pointed at him and Parmak.  _ Did you know? _ He seemed to ask.  _ Did you know this was happening? _

Garak closed his eyes and sighed. There was no point in hiding the truth. “Yes, Julian,” he spoke flatly. “I knew. I’m so sorry.”

Julian’s face was full of utmost disgust. To Garak’s surprise, Julian screamed at him - of course, only numerous bubbles issued from his mouth, but Garak understood the sentiment immediately. When he’d had his say, as it were, Julian spun around and retreated to the far wall of his tank, hugged his tail close, and buried his face in the scales. Faint tears drifted up and merged with the rest of the water.

“I deserve that,” Garak spoke to himself. “And I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“We’ve reached the end of the line,” Parmak spoke, his voice hollow and weak. “There is nothing more that can be done. His fate is sealed.”

Garak turned from Julian to Parmak and back again. He found himself fixating on the disk on Julian’s neck, and slowly his mind began to work. 

“Where did you say you got him from?” Garak asked slowly, not taking his eyes off Julian.

“I’m not sure,” Parmak spoke dismissively. “A group of Ferengi looking to turn a profit.”

“That’s redundant. And where did  _ they  _ get him from?”

“I don’t know. Garak, why are you…”

“My dear doctor, the line has not ended.” He turned to Parmak, who was giving him an odd look. “Because lines do  _ not  _ end. You see, a line extends two ways: forward and backward. We’ve gone far enough forward, but perhaps it’s time we went  _ back _ .” 

Parmak studied Garak intently but said nothing. Garak decided to let him think for a moment as he turned back to Julian. He tapped gently on the glass. “Julian,” he began, “I know you don’t want to speak to me, and I understand why. But I need you to answer one question: Who captured you?”

Julian lifted his head from his tail and sniffled. His eyes were red and swollen. He squinted at Garak, as if to ask  _ Why are you asking? _ And  _ Why do you care? _

“ _ Please _ , Julian,” Garak pleaded. 

Julian lowered his tail to the floor and wiped his eyes. His gaze never left Garak’s. It was like the night they first met: the suspicious feral mermale watching the alien lizard man, each wondering what the other wanted.

Slowly, Julian put his hands to his face, resting the back of his hands against his cheeks and extending his fingers outward. He made a very mean-looking face.

“They had...tentacles on their faces?” Garak asked, confused.

Julian shook his head and pointed to the spikes on his back. Then he repeated his initial gesture.

“They had  _ spikes  _ on their faces,” Garak corrected himself. He pondered this. What species had spikes on their faces…?

“Did your captors look like this?” Parmak finally spoke, stepping over and showing Julian an image on his tablet. Julian swam over and barely took one glance at it before recoiling in horror, pointing and nodding vigorously.

“I should’ve known,” Parmak confirmed with a nod. He turned the tablet to Garak so he could see. “The Jem’Hadar.”

Garak had only heard whispers about the Jem’Hadar. They were a terrifying people that made Cardassia look positively pacifistic. They were horrifying to behold and even worse to cross. “But they don’t deal with smuggling, do they? Especially going to Earth and taking a mermale…”

“Never underestimate how far a nefarious individual will go to get their way,” Parmak cut in. “Mermales are worth quite a lot on the black market, remember? So if one is caught, it can be sold for an exorbitant price. That’s what the Jem’Hadar did, and naturally only the Ferengi could compensate them. That money then goes back to the Jem’Hadar homeworld to fund whatever mercenary causes they’re after now.

“But of course Ferengi have to turn a profit as well. So they in turn sell it to the next highest bidder - in this case, Dukat and his gang. Ferengi do not specialize in butchery; they just want the latinum, plain and simple. But we Cardassians know what bits and pieces of Julian are worth what, and how much they’re worth. And  _ you  _ know Dukat will never pass a chance to torture an innocent creature, especially if he can wet his beak in the process.”

He paused, considering everything he’d just said. “I see now where you are going,” he finished, nodding at Garak. “You’re saying we track down the Ferengi who acquired Julian, and then...what, make the Ferengi take him back? Like ask them for a refund?” Parmak asked haughtily.

Garak ignored this. “If they got him  _ in _ without anyone knowing, they can surely get him  _ out _ . Wouldn’t that stand to reason, Doctor? You were there when Julian was brought in.”

“Yes, because I can access the facility. If I come in with a specimen, no matter how large, I won’t be questioned. Especially if I have Dukat’s gun at my back. Now, if I  _ leave  _ with a specimen...that’s another story.”

Garak heard Parmak’s words and turned them over in his head, as if working a complicated puzzle. He pursed his lips and turned to Julian, who was listening cautiously to the two men speak. 

“What if you leave  _ without  _ a specimen?” Garak spoke slowly.

A long silence followed this. Parmak broke it by asking darkly, “What are you suggesting, Mister Garak?”

“We make him human.”

Another dead silence, this one longer and more uncomfortable than the first. Even Julian, who Garak knew longed to be human, was completely confused. Finally, Parmak let out a weak laugh.

“You aren’t serious.”

“We know about genetic manipulation, and Julian is unfortunately a product of that...”

“ _ He is a fully-developed mermale, Mister Garak. _ Nothing short of magic would turn him into a completely different species.”

“ _ Half _ of a completely different species, to be precise.”

“Mister Garak, you are talking of fairy tales.”

“Perhaps. But think of it, Doctor. We can recreate limbs for those who have lost them.”

_ “Out of non-biological materials.” _

“Why can we not create legs for Julian?”

_ “Because we’d have to split him from tail to stomach if we tried!” _ Parmak shouted. He began to pace, rubbing the bridge of his nose furiously. “How...how can you even  _ begin  _ to think like this?”

“Because  _ your  _ brilliant plan blew up spectacularly and left us in this desperate mess!” Garak shouted back. 

Before Garak realized what he had said, Parmak rounded on him and clocked him hard in the jaw. Garak fell to the floor with a crash, clutching where Parmak had hit him. When he looked up at Parmak, he saw Julian gaping at him in horror, his hands covering his mouth in shock.

“How  _ dare  _ you!”

“I am a man of science, Mister Garak, not a butcher,” Parmak spoke, holding up a hand - the same one he’d used to hit him - to silence Garak. His voice was quiet but his tone was death by a thousand cuts. “The fact that you want to mutilate your lover disgusts me - even if it results in his freedom, which it won’t. It will result in his death. It will result in guilt hanging over your head for the rest of your mortal life, and it will follow you beyond your grave to whatever afterlife awaits you. 

“You want him to be free? So do I. But I will not be party to a bloodbath. Perhaps that is how they did things in the Order. But it is not how we do things in the real world.”

Garak slowly and shakily rose from the floor, massaging his jaw. He tasted blood in his mouth. He glared darkly at Parmak, who was adjusting his glasses and smoothing his snow-white hair back into place. Julian, meanwhile, was transfixed at the events unfolding before him. His eyes darted back and forth between Garak and Parmak and back to Garak again. His hands were pressed against the wall of the tank, looking as though he wanted to leap out of the tank and to Garak’s defense.

“Let’s at least start with finding those Ferengi,” Garak spoke, his tone very measured and careful. “Once we do so, we will proceed from there. Agreed?”

Parmak sighed through his nose and closed his eyes. “We don’t have time to wait for miracles, Mister Garak,” he replied. “But you’re right. Let us at least get that far.”

 

\---------

 

“There  _ is _ a way, but it’s very... _ experimental _ . And very  _ expensive _ . Quite a bit of latinum, really. More than what’s in the coffers of your entire planet.”

Garak narrowed his eyes at the Ferengi across the table from him. Quark was not an easy man to find; trying to catch him was like trying to hold water in your hands. Garak had to give the Ferengi credit for that. He eventually found him at a run-down bar in the middle of nowhere, where he and Parmak were now sitting at a rickety table with him drinking some watered-down excuse for kanar.  

But he was, after all, a Ferengi, and they are at their cores businessmen. Quark was absolutely no exception.

“But there  _ is _ a way to make a mermale human,” Parmak repeated. Even he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “But that’s impossible…”

“It ain’t pretty,” Quark answered, “and it ain’t easy. But it sure is possible. Most I’ve heard it lasting for is seventy-two hours, but apparently it feels like you’re walking on hot coals with every step.”

“And where exactly did you discover this information?”

Quark smirked and waved his hand dismissively. “Friends of friends of associates. If you’re asking if the Federation knows, the answer is no. None of the big important systems have, er, sanctioned it yet.”

“Tell us about this procedure,” Garak asked.

“So apparently there’s a world waaay off in some obscure corner of the quadrant, one the Federation hasn’t stuck their noses into yet. Surprising, I know. Anyway, they went through a period of...hmm, what’s the word I’m looking for… Okay, something happened that caused half of their population to be born more or less looking like worms. It was completely random; no one knew when it would strike or where or to whom. It was a complete crapshoot.” He paused, looking wistful. “Boy the latinum I coulda made on those bets…”

“ _ The procedure, Mister Quark _ ,” Garak interrupted pointedly.

“Oh, yeah. Right. Okay, so, as I understand it, it’s a series of injections at key points along the, uh...lower torso? I guess they’d be where we’d put legs, I dunno. But it’s along those points, and over the course of time it gradually - and  _ painfully _ , can’t stress this enough - splits the worm-body in half, creating legs. Now sometimes they have feet and sometimes they don’t, so they have to recreate feet. But mostly it’s successful.”

“You said it only lasts for seventy-two hours, though,” Parmak pointed out. “If that’s the case, why is it even done?”

“You misunderstand,” Quark replied, taking a swig from his own glass. “No, no, it’s  _ permanent  _ on these aliens. It’s specially formulated for their biologic and genetic structures. Anyone else uses it, it varies in duration. I’ve heard of a few merpeople having it done to them…” He cleared his throat. “Not, er,  _ electively _ , I might add. And seventy-two hours is the longest it’s been shown to work. Sometimes it gives out in two days, sometimes it...ahem, doesn’t work at all.”

“How long does the procedure itself take?”

Quark shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “See, though, if I were you, I’d be worried about what happens if the procedure  _ doesn’t  _ take.”

“What do you mean?” Garak asked.

Quark didn’t answer right away. He held up his glass studied the liquid as though he were watching something boring on a holoprogram. 

“Let’s just say,” he finally replied, choosing his words a little too carefully for Garak’s taste, “there’s a reason why it costs more latinum than God has.” He fixed his beady little eyes on Garak’s. “Which raises the question of how you intend to pay for this.”

“What sort of figure are we talking about?”

“You’d have to mortgage your entire planet. Twice. And that’s the low end of the offer.”

Garak growled and Parmak paled. Quark shrugged again.

“Look,” he went on, putting his drink back on the table, “we’re talking some heavy duty medical procedures here. Consider the high cost as insurance on both our hides should something go wrong. I’m not taking the blame if the fish dies.”

Garak had to restrain himself from arguing that Julian wasn’t actually a fish. He  _ had  _ to get this procedure somehow. It was no secret that being a janitor didn’t pay nearly as well as being a spy did, and he doubted very much that Parmak would pool his money for a highly experimental thing that could end in Julian’s death.

“What are we thinking right now?” Quark asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Thinking you can’t afford this procedure?”

Garak said nothing.

“Perhaps I could do it,” Parmak spoke quietly. Garak and Quark turned to look at him.

“You?” Quark asked in mild disbelief.

“I  _ am  _ a doctor, after all.”

“Not a medical one.” He smirked again, this time at Parmak’s reaction. “Don’t think you Cardassians are the only ones who’ve cornered the market on information. I’ve got my sources just as much as you both do.”

“All the same,” Parmak continued, ignoring Quark’s interruption, “if I could see what’s being done…”

“Weren’t you the one who said it couldn’t be done? Now you’re willing to throw away your reputation...your credentials...for something you don’t even know is going to work?”

Quark had a very valid point, though Garak did not want to admit it. He glanced at Parmak, who quietly studied the Ferengi and processed his words. There were two sides to Parmak: his scientist side and his civilian side. Oftentimes they fought each other for dominance - like, Garak assumed, they were doing now. Parmak had every right to be concerned about Julian and what this procedure could do to him - that was his civilian side talking. But, his scientist side said, how fascinating would it be to see this procedure in action? And if it worked, Julian would be human for a short while. Something could alter Julian’s body - albeit temporarily - but at great physical (and almost likely mental) cost. Garak could see Parmak weighing these options in his mind, and the scales were not tipping in any particular direction.

Finally, Parmak spoke again. “If this procedure does work, it could open a great many doors to new discoveries, new possibilities. With the backing of the Cardassian state, we could refine it, perhaps even market it to other civilizations who share similar issues. It’s a very niche cause, I know, but…” He paused. “This is something that could revolutionize medicine across the galaxy.”

“And that’s why you’re putting such a high price on this,” Garak concluded, looking at Quark with a probing eye.

“Correct,” Quark confirmed without hesitation. “If you Cardassians are gonna reap the benefits of this cure, I’m gonna need some, ah...compensation for my time and efforts. This ain’t your run-of-the-mill Romulan ale deal, no no no. We’re talking big league. Galaxy league even. And the bigger the arena, the bigger the profit. Rule of Acquisition number…”

“The point is,” Parmak interrupted, putting his hand up to silence Quark, “you and these aliens who developed this will want a percentage of the profit. Is that correct?”

“It is.”

“How about this,” Garak began, speaking quickly to keep Parmak and Quark from interrupting his train of thought, “you give us the required formulas to create these injections, and if it is successful in making Julian human just long enough to smuggle him off of Cardassia, and if we can synthesize it for use across other worlds, you can have, say...fifteen percent of all profits from the sales.”

“ _ Fifteen percent _ ?” Quark repeated loudly. “ _ Just _ fifteen percent?” He shook his head, baffled. “Listen, friend, I ain’t working with numbers that low. No way. Deal’s off.”

“First of all,” Garak continued, leaning in closer, “I am not your friend. And second, fifteen percent is more than fair, considering we’ll have to split it with you - meaning Ferenginar - as well as the original creators of the procedure, Cardassia, and the Federation.”

“What’re you bringing the Federation into this for?” Quark barked. “Screw them, they can figure this out for themselves!”

“My sentiments exactly, but here’s the thing about the Federation: they have a far,  _ far _ greater reach than the Ferengi do...and don’t argue with me because you know I’m right. If we get them involved, it will double if not triple the profits. Including your agreed-to fifteen percent.”

“Now, wait a second, I didn’t agree to…”

“Not yet, but you will. We - meaning you and I - have a life-changing medical procedure in our very hands. We can demand as much money from the Federation as we want.” Garak snorted. “Don’t tell me you didn’t think about raising your asking price once the Federation gets involved. You can’t  _ possibly  _ be that dense.”

Quark glared at Garak and hissed, but Garak simply smiled serenely back. He was no businessman, true, but he was a master manipulator. All it was, you see, was choosing the right words that appealed to the right person. Once you had them, you could get away with anything...even things they did not want to do. 

“We will also need transport to Earth,” Garak went on, talking over the Ferengi who was opening his mouth to protest, “because we can use Julian as our proof that the procedure works. Neither Cardassians nor Ferengi are completely trusted by the Federation, so if we want this deal to go through, we’re going to need tangible proof. All this will pay for itself in time, my Ferengi friend. You just need to…” He glanced at Parmak, the corner of his lip twitching ever so slightly, “... _ trust me _ .”

Garak ignored Parmak’s disbelieving eyebrow raise - so Garak could not trust  _ him _ , but he, Parmak, should implicitly trust  _ Garak _ ? - and instead kept his gaze on Quark steady and even...and maybe a slight bit intimidating. It was a delicate but volatile combination, but Garak had long ago mastered it. And judging by the Ferengi’s squirming, Garak knew it was working.

“Okay, fine,” Quark muttered. “We have a deal. But you better not screw me out of profit just because Mother Cardassia wants more for herself.”

_ But I’m not in this for profit _ , Garak thought to himself.  _ That’s where you’re wrong. I’m in this for love. That, my dear Ferengi friend, is a far, far more dangerous and desperate thing to fight for than profit. And the sooner you realize that, the better.  _


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The procedure begins...

The details of the plan were hammered out shortly thereafter: Quark would supply the formula as well as a spaceship to Earth (“I don’t care about the fish. I’m just making sure I get my share of the profit.”). Garak would smuggle in some small laser pistols (“for defense only,” Parmak insisted) and clothes for Julian. And aside from reworking and administering the formula, Parmak was also tasked with coming up with an escape plan from the science facility.

The biggest obstacle to the plan was time. Parmak, ever the scientist, analyzed security guard patterns, escape routes, and the time it took for the formula to work (this last part largely being an estimate based on preliminary figures). He calculated everything down to the second, starting with the scheduled doses of the formula to leaving the facility to Quark teleporting them to the awaiting orbiting starship.

It was a completely reckless plan, Garak thought ruefully as he worked on tailoring some of his older clothes for Julian to wear. But it was the only one they had. And he had to grudgingly admit that some of history’s best moments were the results of completely reckless plans. (He couldn’t exactly call one to mind but he was certain they had to exist. At least, he hoped so.)

Julian was intrigued with the plan but he didn’t quite believe it either. He had shaken his head in disbelief when Garak first explained things to him, and Garak honestly didn’t blame him.

“I’m just as skeptical as you are, dear,” Garak told him one day as he stitched a pair of pants that Julian eyed with great dislike. Parmak was busy talking to himself in a dialect of Kardasi Garak wasn’t familiar with, but he could make out words like “degree” and “potency” and “duration”. “But if it _does_ work, even if for a little while, we may be able to eventually make you human permanently.”

Garak watched as the wheels in Julian’s head turned, processing this information. He sighed quietly and looked down at his tail, lifting its long, transparent, leaf-like fin above the water to examine it. Gentle rivulets of water trailed from it and it shimmered in the light.

“It _is_ quite lovely,” Garak complimented quietly, still hearing that bastard Richard’s criticism echoing dimly in the back of his mind.

Julian turned quickly to Garak, blinking in surprise. He shook his head and gave a derisive snort.

“It’s true! You know, when I first saw your tail, I thought it looked like an elegant ball gown.”

Julian’s lips began to form a smile, as if to say, _“You can’t mean that.”_

“Why _do_ you want to be human, Julian?” Garak asked, lowering the pants he was taking in. “What’s so great about the human world that you want to remake your entire being?”

Julian pursed his lips as he lowered his tail back into the water. After a moment he splashed the water in his tank, then spread his arms wide and gestured to the room around him. Finally, Julian also spread his arms high over his head in graceful arcs, gesturing at the ceiling. Garak watched as Julian stared into space, his eyes wide with curiosity...and deep with longing.

“I think I understand,” Garak said quietly. “Even on Earth, when you have a great ocean, there’s still things on land and in space that you’ll never get to see. You’re limited to what you can do.” He paused, watching Julian’s arms sink back to the tank. “I can’t help but agree with you. It would drive me mad if I could only see the stars and not touch them.”

Julian nodded slowly. He swam over to Garak, lifted himself out of the water with one arm, and pressed his forehead into Garak’s, holding the back of Garak’s head gently in his other hand. Garak could barely see Parmak observing them out of the corner of his eye, trying his best not to pay attention but giving into petty curiosity. Garak refocused on Julian, who was smiling deviously. He put his hand to his chest, then to Garak’s. He took Garak’s hand in his own, threading his fingers between Garak’s, and thrust them high into the sky, as if they were about to dance. Both Julian and Garak stared up at their intertwined hands before Julian looked back at Garak, nodding hopefully. _“We’ll see the stars together someday, won’t we?”_ his eyes seemed to ask.

Garak smiled and chuckled. “My dear, it would be my honor to travel with you.”

Julian’s smile increased as he lowered their intertwined hands, cradled Garak’s face in his hands, kissed him deeply, and did an ecstatic backflip into the tank. Garak just barely heard Parmak chuckling and, more sneakily, wiping a tear from his eye.

 

***

 

The time had come. Parmak had refined the formula to work on Julian. Quark had the ship ready to go. It was now or never.

Because Julian wouldn’t be able to breathe in his tank after he transformed, Parmak acquired a rusted aubergine contraption that looked like a cross between an iron lung and a coffin filled with a shallow bit of water. Garak held his reservations in, but Julian blew a raspberry the moment he saw it.

“Well, I’m sorry, but this is all I could get,” Parmak snapped. “Perhaps his royal highness would prefer something lined with gold fabric, yes?”

Parmak had become testy lately, and with good reason: he’d been working almost constantly with very little sleep on getting the formula to be compatible with Julian. Garak hoped that, after all of this, Parmak would get a nice long vacation. Perhaps on another planet.

Julian wrinkled his nose at the tank and buried his face in Garak’s neck. Garak patted his shoulder understandingly.

“Julian, we don’t have time for fussiness,” Parmak tried again, massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly. “We have to do this now. _Please_ , Julian.”

Julian lifted his head from Garak’s neck and looked at the tank, his face softening. He knew the work everyone was putting in for him, and he had to be grateful for their efforts. He closed his eyes and nodded - he was ready.

Parmak and Garak helped Julian into the tank, laying Julian flat on his back. He shifted angrily and arched his spine, growling.

Parmak grimaced. “His spikes… I forgot about those…”

“Let’s be honest, Doctor,” Garak said, holding Julian’s hand, “that will be the least of his pains through all this.” He felt Julian’s terrified eyes on his face but he couldn’t bear to meet his gaze - tears were already forming in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. He had to be strong for Julian. And for Parmak. And, he supposed, for himself as well.

“Now unfortunately I can’t sedate you through this,” Parmak explained, fastening restraints around different parts around Julian’s body. “You’re going to have to be strong and swallow your pain, do you hear me? Be like Garak, here.” He nodded at Garak, who glared darkly at Parmak.

“Don’t,” he warned. The last thing he wanted was for Julian to be the unfeeling mess his father had warped him into.

Parmak blinked slowly in response but said nothing. He proceeded to hook up Julian to a few machines, which began to beep and chirp and flash with little lights. “These are to make sure you’re still okay. If anything goes wrong, I’m stopping this. Understand?”

Julian narrowed his eyes and huffed. Then he remembered himself and nodded glumly.

Parmak nodded back and wheeled over a table lined with a staggering number of large needles. Garak tried his best not to react, but Julian must have sensed something was off and strained to see what was happening. Parmak gently but firmly pushed him back down as he reached for the first needle. Raising it, Julian’s eyes widened and he tensed.

“Relax,” Parmak ordered. “The pain will go away before you know it.” He ran his hand down Julian’s right side, stopping at where his thigh would be, and inserted the needle. Julian squeezed his eyes shut and bit back a whimper as Parmak injected the substance. It was the color of stale tea.

When Parmak finished he reached for a second needle. He ran his hand further down Julian’s side and inserted the needle just above where his knee would be. Julian’s breath hitched and he bit his lip. Garak saw two fat tears squeeze out of Julian’s eyes and run down his face.

“I know, my dear, I know,” Parmak whispered sadly, reaching for a third needle. “Three more, then we can rest.”

“And that’s all?” Garak asked.

Parmak looked up gravely. “For the first round,” he spoke flatly. “There are four rounds of this in all.”

Julian’s eyes shot open at this, his mouth moving wordlessly. Parmak stuck the third needle into where Julian’s calf would be, causing Julian to seize and arch his back. His frills popped out and his cheeks began to flush purple.

The final two needles were placed - one near the tip of Julian’s tail and another slightly north of it - and Parmak began to close the doors on the coffin-tank. Julian’s eyes, now red and swollen from tears, widened and he shook his head, but Parmak returned the gesture.

“I have to close this up, Julian,” he explained. “I can’t let anyone else see you. I’m…” He hesitated as he closed the lower lid, moving to the top one. “I’m so sorry.” He lowered the top lid, which only had a small window showing Julian’s fear-filled face. He was beginning to breathe heavily, causing his heart rate to spike.

“This is a mistake,” Garak muttered as Parmak checked Julian’s vitals and made notes on his tablet.

“This was your idea,” Parmak replied, not looking up from his work. “Besides, it’s too late to have second thoughts. We all agreed to this. We just didn’t realize how...unpleasant it would be.”

A small banging sound emanated from the coffin-tank. It shifted on the floor almost imperceptibly.

“This is going to be hell for him,” Parmak spoke quietly. “If I were you, I’d bring up your spy training and numb yourself to all of this. And I have to put on my ‘good doctor’ face and do the same. Worrying will do nothing to help him.” He looked up at Garak, his blue eyes weary, his normally well-kept white hair beginning to fall into his face. “We have to distance ourselves from his pain.”

Garak set his jaw and nodded in agreement, doing his best to keep the loudly-increasing banging sound out of his brain.

 

***

 

The second round an hour later was just as bad as the first, except this one was on Julian’s left side. Parmak had to call Garak over a few times to help restrain Julian, who was thrashing madly from the burning pain inside his body. Garak made the mistake of looking Julian in the eye as he held down the mermale’s shoulders, which caused the tears Garak had worked so hard to hide to blur his vision. He immediately shut his eyes and turned his head away so violently he heard a bone in his neck crack.

Round three, half an hour after round two, was even worse. Parmak’s injections were down the front of Julian’s tail this time, which was beginning to split down the center. Clumps of Julian’s scales were falling off and floating like wilted flower petals in the shallow water of the coffin-tank, but the skin revealed underneath was a greyish-green color that turned both Cardassians’ stomachs. Both men hoped that wasn’t going to be the color of Julian’s legs once the procedure was over...but they also hoped it wasn’t a negative reaction to the treatment, either. Though Julian howled in silent pain, his vitals were still within normal levels.

Finally, an hour and a half later, the fourth round was administered. By this time Julian was so exhausted and drained from the pain he barely moved. He had bit so hard into his lip he’d drawn blood, which trailed down his face like a vine. His eyes were rolled back into his skull and his mouth was slack. His breathing was heavy and labored.

Garak could no longer stand to be within sight of the tank, which was fine with Parmak because Julian no longer had to be restrained (being too weak to move anyway). Garak did make the mistake of checking to see whether or not Parmak was done, only to see Parmak lifting what looked like a deformed and colorless limb from the water to administer an injection on its underside. Scales fell from Parmak’s hand and the injection site, splashing lightly as they hit the water. Garak’s stomach lurched and he immediately turned away. It was something like when a Cardassian shed his scales, but this was more like shedding scales and a layer of skin. It was the most revolting thing Garak had ever seen, and that was saying something.

When Parmak closed the lid on the coffin-tank, he was shaking. He looked up at Garak and smoothed the white hair from his face. “And now,” he said hoarsely, “we wait.”

An hour passed. Then two. Parmak kept monitoring not only his watch but Julian’s vitals as if keeping vigil on a patient about to pass into death. He very rarely took breaks, even to use the restroom, even to eat, even to sleep. Garak had no clue how Parmak was doing all of this, but he came to respect the scientist in a much deeper way than he had before.

Garak must have fallen asleep at some point because he found Parmak shaking him gently. “Garak,” he whispered. “Wake up. Come see.”

Garak’s eyes fluttered open as Parmak’s face came into focus. Garak looked over his shoulder to the coffin-tank, which was open. A figure was sitting up, holding up its right leg and running its hands over it.

Its right leg.

_Julian!_

Garak staggered to his feet and rushed to see what had occurred. Julian looked over his shoulder and beamed with pride, pointing to his newly-formed leg, wiggling his newly-formed toes.

The procedure had worked.

In the place of Julian’s teal-blue tail were two long, slender legs, perfectly in proportion with the rest of his body. Two feet, each with five toes each, wiggled and waved, getting used to their range of motion. To Garak’s great joy, the lifeless grey skin was indeed temporary; Julian’s legs were the same beautiful shade of polished copper as the rest of his body. There were still some patches of stubborn scales here and there, but there was the proof. Julian was now a human man.

A _very naked_ human man, his _prUt_ no longer hidden, now framed by a cluster of coarse, dark curls. Garak knew humans had external genitalia unlike Cardassians, so naturally with Julian’s new body, that part of him had to adapt as well. He would do the polite thing as best he could and ignore it for now.

“Oh, Julian…” Garak whispered, focusing on his lover’s face. “I...I don’t believe…”

Julian put his hands to his mouth as he flexed and moved his new limbs. He slowly shook his head in ecstatic disbelief.

Garak turned to Parmak, who was looking even more haggard than ever. “My dear Doctor…”

Parmak smiled back at Garak, a combination of exhaustion and serenity, saying nothing.

Rustling in the tank got both men’s attention, and what they saw wiped the smiles from their faces: Julian had thrown his new legs over the side of the tank and was moving to stand for the first time.

“No, wait, don’t…!”

Too late. Julian fell to the floor with a slippery bang. Parmak and Garak began to move toward him, but Julian held up a hand, stopping them. What was he doing?

Slowly, shakily, Julian regained his balance. He placed one foot on the ground and winced with pain - Quark did say it was like walking on hot coals, after all - and slowly rose to his full height. He steadied himself against the coffin-tank and swallowed, looking from Garak to Parmak.

Julian proceeded forward, one foot in front of the other, like a newborn riding hound just learning how to walk. But he wasn’t walking toward Garak; he was walking steadily toward Parmak. When he was close enough, Julian shakily opened his arms and embraced Parmak around the shoulders, almost pulling him into the ground. Parmak gasped in surprise, not fully knowing what was happening at first, but then it hit him. He gently put his arms around Julian and held him close.

“You’re so very welcome, young man,” Parmak whispered into Julian’s ear. “You’re so very, very welcome.”

\----------

Julian remembered Quark. Though the Ferengi was more interested in getting his share of profit and thus mostly ignored Julian, Julian spent a great deal of time shooting him dirty looks. Eventually, Quark had had enough of this.

“If it weren’t for me,” he declared, sticking a finger in Julian’s face as the mermale dressed, “you’d still be in that tank.”

Julian likewise poked  Quark in the chest with his own finger and began to gesture wildly. Of course, Quark had no idea what he was trying to say, so he looked to Garak and Parmak for help.

“I can’t say for certain,” Parmak replied, “but if I were Julian, I’d be saying ‘if it weren’t for  _ you  _ I wouldn’t be here at all’.” He looked at Julian. “Am I right?”

Julian gave Parmak an approving smile and gave a satisfactory nod before sticking his tongue out at Quark. Quark rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t  _ catch  _ you, I just  _ sold  _ you. There’s a difference.”

Julian began to gesture again but Parmak held up a hand. “You two can argue as much as you want later, but right now we need to keep moving. Julian, let Quark see the disk on your neck.”

Julian scowled and sat on a bench, exposing the left side of his neck. Quark took one look at it and instantly made a face.

“You must’ve upset a lot of people being either too chatty or too fight-y,” he muttered, “because this is some serious disruptor tech right here.” He allowed himself a smirk. “Probably an improvement.”

Julian lashed out at Quark, who quickly withdrew and put up his hands defensively. “It was a joke, fish-boy!” he snapped. “I’m sure you’re a  _ wonderful  _ conversationalist otherwise.”

Julian fumed.

“The disk, Mister Quark,” Parmak repeated, only louder.

Quark waved off Parmak and took out a small set of tools from his belt. He studied the disk on Julian’s neck before taking a tiny instrument in his hand and began to fiddle with the device.

“How long do you think this will take?” Parmak asked. “You said you were good at this sort of thing.”

“I am,”  Quark confirmed, not looking up, “but _this sort of thing_ is a delicate operation. There’s a set of hair triggers in here that if I accidentally touch one or move one or even _breathe_ on one, he dies.” He allowed himself a smirk. “Just think of all that latinum wasted on a dead man.”

Julian growled low in his throat. Quark ignored this and continued with his work.

“And how exactly do you plan on getting us all out of here?” Garak asked, a brow ridge raised.

“Easy enough,” Quark replied as he worked, “I have a ship in orbit. First, I’ll beam myself up, and then…”

“ _ Absolutely not _ ,” Garak interrupted angrily. “Who is to say you won’t leave us behind?”

“You three are my tickets to more latinum than even the Grand Nagus knows what to do with,” Quark explained, annoyed. “You really think I’m gonna leave you here after I’ve done all this work? And for nothing?” He scoffed. “You Cardassians have some  _ major  _ trust issues.”

“My concern is more over Julian than ourselves,” Parmak spoke evenly. “ _ We’re _ not the important ones here:  _ he  _ is.” He paused, turning to Julian. “He’s far more valuable than any of us, so we must protect him with our lives.”

Julian blushed a little at that. 

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Quark paused. “Um, okay, this isn’t good…”

“What? What isn’t good?” Garak and Parmak asked. Julian tensed.

“No no he’s fine,” Quark explained, gesturing to Julian, “but here’s the problem: there are two separate triggers, one for vocal paralysis and one for neuro-toxicity. I can do both, but because we’re on a time crunch, we can only do one at a time. I can fix the other on the ship.”

Julian began gesturing to his throat quickly but to everyone’s surprise, Quark shook his head.

“No, that’s the stupid choice,” he explained, sounding like he was trying to explain quantum theory to a toddler. “Think about it: sure you can talk again, but say those thugs you’re trying to avoid trigger the toxin. I mean,” he shrugged, “if you’d rather your last words be screams as you’re melting from the inside, that’s  _ your  _ call, but…”

“Disarm the toxins,” Garak cut in. “This shouldn’t even be a choice.” He turned to Julian, his eyes sympathetic. “We must be practical, Julian, I’m sorry. Talking can wait.”

Knowing Julian’s past experiences with being too chatty, Garak could tell this order cut the mermale deep to his core. Unfortunately Quark was right: Julian was already disabled from not being able to walk, so having a device that could further impair him would not only slow the entire group down, it would make Julian a far, far easier target. And judging by his crestfallen expression, Garak knew Julian understood this as well.

There was a little buzz, a click, and Quark lowered his hands. “Okay, that’s done,” he said confidently. “Now we just gotta get you back to the ship. I’ll head up first, and then I’ll beam you three up. But…”

“But what?” Garak asked angrily. “My patience with you is running thin, Mister Quark.”

“Likewise. But this was the only ship I could get at a moment’s notice that would make it to Earth, so unfortunately the transporter is a little...buggy.”

Garak’s face paled as he lifted his chin and stared down his nose at the Ferengi. “You chose  _ now  _ to make this known?” he asked flatly. “How ‘buggy’ are we talking?”

“Shouldn’t be too…” But suddenly he paused, and before Garak could ask anymore, he held up a hand. “Guards,” he whispered. “I gotta go.”

“Take Julian!” Parmak pleaded, shifting nervously.

Quark shook his head. “Can’t. No, I seriously can’t,” he repeated, glaring at Garak. “The transporter is only configured on me. I have to reconfigure it from the bridge.” He stopped talking, his ears twitching. “You three better hide - now.” Quark warned. “I’ll work as fast as I can, but you gotta hold ‘em off. You have my word.” Quark pressed a button on a device he wore on his wrist and vanished in a shimmering bolt of light.

Garak’s rage simmered. Trusting a Ferengi when the stakes were this high was foolish. If that little demon saves himself and sacrifices them…

“Julian,” Parmak whispered, holding a phaser in his hand, “you may have to move, and move quickly. It’s going to be excruciatingly painful, but I...we,” he added, glancing at Garak, “we need you to bear this pain. I know we’re always asking this, but remember this is for your freedom. Please, Julian.”

Julian nodded and drew a hood over his head.

Garak scented the air and picked up the smell of three guards, two he didn’t recognize, but one he did.

_ Dukat _ .

He grabbed Parmak by the shoulder and pulled him close, close enough his lips practically touched his ear. Parmak gasped as Garak spoke: “ _ He’s _ here. He knows. Stay silent.”

Parmak looked Garak in the eye, terrified, and nodded once, stooping to Julian and putting a finger to his lips. Julian nodded and repeated the gesture. Parmak straightened and put his back to Julian, his hand absentmindedly reaching back. Julian gingerly reached out and held it, his grip tightening as the sounds of the guards moved closer.

Garak raised his phaser and slinked forward just enough to see Dukat and his cronies walking through the lab. Garak narrowed his eyes and pressed himself further into the shadows, praying that Dukat couldn’t scent him in return. 

He heard a sigh - Dukat’s - and some muttered orders. The two guards split off from Dukat and prowled around the lab like sand cats. Garak allowed himself one slow, shaky breath as he watched one guard, then the other, creep past. 

To his great joy, a soft ping echoed through his ear. “Quark to Garak. Bad news: The transporter’s not picking up your signal. You’re gonna have to get out of the facility for me to have a clear shot. There’s an exit about a hundred meters away on your left once you exit the lab. Be quick, a storm’s coming. Quark out.”

Garak bit back an angry hiss and moved back to Parmak and Julian. He gestured for them to follow him, but be quiet. Parmak and Julian gave him an odd look, but Garak’s anger flashed loud enough for them to not question him. Parmak helped Julian shakily rise to his feet, and Garak could see the pain coursing through Julian’s body as his legs began to support his weight.  _ Like walking on hot coals _ , Garak remembered. He turned away so he wouldn’t see Julian’s suffering and led the group forward.

Julian slowed them down far more than Garak or even Parmak anticipated. Even worse, the poor boy had to bite back whimpers and gasps of pain as he moved, doing his best to shuffle forward in agonizing silence. His breath loudly caught at one point, and Parmak practically slapped his hand over Julian’s mouth and quietly hissed at him. Julian sniffled and swallowed hard.

They reached the door exiting the lab, but it was locked. Garak silently cursed and turned to Parmak, who was supporting Julian so much his stoop had become far more pronounced. Parmak understood and passed Julian onto Garak as he made his way to the access panel. As he fumbled for his key card, Garak glanced under Julian’s hood and looked into his lover’s eyes. So much pain in those hazel eyes. Garak wished he could take it all away; hopefully, Guls allowing, this would do it. Julian just had to last a little longer. 

Garak gave Julian a quick reassuring kiss on his forehead. He could taste the salt from the water on his skin, bitter but still oddly sweet. Julian closed his eyes and nuzzled closer to Garak. He felt the human’s hot, frantic breath on his neck and shuddered.  _ This isn’t the time _ , he thought, silently scolding himself. 

“Hey, you! You there, stop!”

Garak and Julian tensed, and Parmak looked up from the panel. Garak could see the faintest traces of terror flash across the scientist’s face...but it was gone so fast he wondered if he imagined it as Parmak turned slowly and confidently around to face the approaching guard. Julian clutched at Garak’s shirt, shaking violently.

“Ah, Fedat, was it?” Parmak greeted easily. “How odd to see you on this shift. Don’t you normally work days?”

“Spare me,” Fedat spoke, storming over to the scientist, who remained remarkably calm. “What did you do with the creature?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Fedat hissed. “ _ The mercreature _ !” he growled, pointing at the empty tank behind him. “Where have you hidden it?”

“That is a classified matter, Fedat. I’ve orders from the Council to conduct further testing on the mermale in an undisclosed location.”

“That is a lie, Doctor, and you know it.” Dukat emerged from the shadows, his hands behind his back, a second guard at his side. “I’ve seen the security footage since the creature’s been here. You and that damned ‘janitor’...” Garak could hear the doubt in Dukat’s voice. “...have been trying to make friends with the creature. Now why would that be?”

To Garak’s surprise, Parmak smiled wanly. “For science, of course. Don’t you understand, Gul? He’s a creature of Earth...a  _ rare  _ creature, yes, but a Terran all the same. Think about it: we can gain valuable insight to the humans...perhaps even the Federation...from him. I know what you’re thinking: how can a mermale know anything about the humans that walk on land?” He allowed himself a laugh. “Because all life on that little planet is connected. Yes, the merpeople don’t interact  _ as much _ with the Federation, but consider it less like interaction and more like... _ tangential involvement _ . It’s like how you’d watch your neighbor’s vole infestation: you don’t want it to reach your house but you certainly don’t want to help him with his.”

Dukat narrowed his eyes. “Empty words from an empty man. Do you really think I’m so stupid as to fall for that?  _ Where is the creature, Doctor? _ ” He stepped forward, practically backing Parmak into the door. Stunningly, Parmak held his gaze, not blinking or looking away once. “If you don’t tell me what you’ve done with it, I will see to your imprisonment myself!”

Garak was so busy watching Parmak distract Dukat with ever-more elaborate excuses laced with complex science jargon that he didn’t notice the hand slipping in and removing his phaser from his grip. By the time he’d caught wind of Julian aiming the phaser at Dukat, it was too late.

“ _ No, Julian, don’t - ! _ ”

Julian pulled the trigger and shot a stun bolt at Dukat, hitting him squarely in the neck. With a loud shout, he fell to the floor, clutching at his throat. Fedat and the other guard wheeled around to see where the bolt had come from; sufficiently distracted, Parmak rapidly swiped his key card and opened the door. He raised his own phaser from his belt and fired two warning shots at the guards, causing them to duck in confusion. 

Garak rounded on Julian. “Damnit, Julian! You ruined it!”

But to his surprise, Julian hissed and grabbed Garak’s wrist, gesturing to his watch. He was right: they did not have time for this. This was the only way. Garak swore under his breath.

“Remind me to lecture you about this later,” Garak growled, yanking the phaser out of Julian’s hand. Julian smirked as he tried to run forward, but he fell to his knees from the burning pain in his feet. Parmak ran back to Julian and hoisted his body across his shoulders, much to both Julian and Garak’s surprise.

“The southeast entrance!” he panted, struggling slightly under Julian’s weight. “Cover me!”

Garak nodded as he and Parmak ran from the lab as fast as they could go. It was marginally faster than their progress before, but marginally faster than a snail was still slow. Garak ran behind Parmak and Julian, glancing over his shoulder every so often and firing warning shots from his phaser. Parmak had passed Julian his phaser, which the young man was using to fire at anyone who tried to stop them. For someone who had never fired a phaser before, he was a very accurate shot. Of course, Garak thought ruefully, Julian never outright  _ said  _ he’d never fired a phaser before.

The two men ran through the corridors until they came to a clear glass door opening to a great courtyard. Garak noticed the sky was a sleet grey, and a bolt of thunder ripped across it. Julian must have seen it too, for he reacted so distressingly he caused Parmak to fall down.

“Where the hell are you guys?” came Quark’s voice in Garak’s ear again. “I’ve got the teleporter working but I can’t find you anywhere!”

“We got a little delayed!” Garak barked back. “We’re almost there! Get ready to…”

A scream interrupted his train of thought. Garak turned to see Parmak clutching his shoulder and writhing in pain. Julian lay on the floor breathing heavily and looking between Parmak and Fedat, who was rapidly approaching with his phaser drawn.

“Never mind me!” Parmak screamed to Julian. “Just go! Get outside! GO!”

Julian was very obviously terrified, but he rose to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain. He turned to the door but looked back at Parmak one more time.

“GO!” Parmak screamed again, his voice cracking.

Garak and Julian locked eyes and Garak wordlessly told Julian to flee. He understood and turned to the doorway, starting off in a shaky walk but slowly building up to a canter, then a jog. To both men’s surprise, Julian was actually running. Neither could fathom the amount of pain he was in, but they were thrilled he was able to run away.

Garak fired off some more shots at Fedat, finally knocking him off his feet, before rushing to Parmak. He helped the scientist up to his feet, who was busy protesting.

“Forget me!” Parmak ordered. “Protect Julian!”

“ _ It’s a damn shoulder wound! _ ” Garak snapped, pulling Parmak’s good arm across his own shoulders. “Stop being a primadonna! Besides,” he went on, adjusting his pace to Parmak’s limping one, “you have to come to Earth and explain this procedure. I can’t do it without…”

They had reached the outer courtyard and stood under an awning as the rains came down. Julian was standing a good distance in front of him, not moving. Garak was worried something had happened to him, but he was okay. Garak saw Julian slowly lift his hands and turn his palms up to the rain. He then lowered his hood and closed his eyes, letting the rain gently pelt his face. Julian held his hands to the sky and began to laugh silently. He cast aside the shoes Garak had given him and stood barefoot in rainwater, letting the cold stones heal his feet. 

“He hasn’t been outside in a long time,” Parmak mused quietly, hobbling out from beneath Garak’s arm and walking forward. “This must feel like heaven to him.”

Garak watched as Julian stood transfixed in the Cardassian rain, itself a rare occurrence. A rare creature enjoying a rare moment...it was almost poetic, almost beautiful. Garak allowed himself a small smile as he watched his young lover breathe in the fresh air and revel in the healing waters that came from the sky. 

A beep interrupted his thoughts: “You better be outside cuz I’m not a damn taxi service!”

Garak nodded to Parmak, who whistled to Julian. The younger man turned to face the two Cardassians, his face filled with joy as he limped back to their side. He collapsed in Garak’s arms just as Quark locked onto their position and beamed them aboard the starship. Julian slumped to the deck in a wet heap and Parmak leaned against a wall, wincing from pain.

“Get us out of here, Mister Quark!” Garak ordered.

As he tended to Julian and Parmak, Garak heard the roar of the engines kick in as the ship moved into warp drive, leaving Cardassia - and Gul Dukat - far behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now on their way to Earth, Garak and Julian can focus on...more important matters.
> 
> I'll be upfront: this chapter is, after some initial set-up in the beginning, just pure sex. Enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks forever to [@tinsnip](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinsnip/pseuds/tinsnip) and their supremely helpful ["Speculative Cardassian Reproductive Xenobiology"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1719479) for help writing this and other chapters for Garak. It's greatly appreciated, thank you!
> 
> Also much gratitude to [@eilu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eilu) and [@cyrelia-j](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyrelia_J) \- you guys know why.

Once everyone had been tended to and dried off, Quark got to work examining Julian’s disk again. He hemmed and hawed and muttered to himself, none of which could be understood by Garak, Parmak, or Julian.

“Care to share your findings with the peer group?” Parmak asked after several minutes of this.

“It’s a little more complicated than I thought,” Quark replied, not looking up. He put on a pair of magnifying goggles and adjusted them for the disk’s tiny internal components. “Basically, the thing’s not entirely disabled; so long as it’s attached to his skin, it could still trigger. And don’t get upset with me because I thought I understood it, too,” he warned, pointing at Garak, who was beginning to say something. 

“So you don’t fully know what you’re doing, then.”

“I never said  _ that _ , either. It’s similar to things I’m familiar with, but on a whole it’s something I’ve never seen before.” Quark removed the magnifying goggles. “It’s a good thing there’s not much going on between us and Earth; we have plenty of time to work.”

“You said it’s not fully disarmed, though,” Garak pointed out. “Say we’re theoretically followed: what if they have the remote trigger?”

“Distance, for one. For another, the toxin distributor  _ is _ outta commission, but it can be reset. Thing is, they’d have to pin him down to do it.” Quark gave Julian a once-over. “And I don’t think that’d work out well for them.”

“Can you remove the…”

“Before you ask, the answer is no. Not yet, anyway. The things keeping this attached to his neck  _ are  _ the distributors. The toxin is embedded within them. And the positioning of the disk is what’s disrupting his vocal chords. The internal trigger is what’s disabled. And I can’t remove that, either. Whoever designed this thing...they’re pretty good.”

“So you’ll have to wear that disk for a little longer, I’m afraid,” Parmak said to Julian with a sigh, folding his arms across his chest.

Julian grunted and sulked.

“I can certainly try again,” Quark offered, “but right now, I’m tired. And I bet you’re all tired, too. Ship’s on autopilot, so there’s nothing to worry about there.” He put his tools away in a little pouch and got to his feet. “I suppose you’ll wanna know where you’ll be sleeping.”

“It can’t be too comfortable, wherever it is,” Garak noted, eyeing the ship. It was more run-down than he thought it would be. He half-wondered if at some point he’d have to get out and push.

“You see the words ‘luxury hotel’ anywhere?” Quark snapped. “No, no you don’t.” He smirked and held his arms out wide. “Welcome, then, to Chez Quark.”

Parmak and Garak exchanged wary glances as Julian eyed a hovering chair Quark wheeled up to him.

“This’ll help you get around. It’s crude but it works.” 

Julian sniffed indignantly.

“Walking is hard enough for you as it is,” Parmak insisted. “I still am surprised you managed to run.”

Julian kicked the chair away and continued to sulk. Parmak wearily turned to Garak. “I can’t handle this. You take over.”

Garak sighed and walked over to Julian, who refused to look at him. “Julian,” Garak began, “this is all that’s available. You either use this or nothing.”

Julian pushed off from the chair he was sitting in and began to walk, but he instantly grimaced from pain and fell to his knees, cowering in the fetal position. Quark bit back a laugh a little too late.

“Julian, be reasonable,” Garak pleaded, ignoring Quark. “You have to use the chair if you intend on moving. We’ve done all we can…”

“Don’t you get it?” Quark interrupted loudly. “He wants to walk on his own. He’s gone through all this hassle to get legs in the first place, so of course he wants to use them...pain or no pain.” He looked down at Julian, who was panting from effort. “He’s as stubborn as a Ferengi.”

Julian gave Quark a barely perceptible smile as he tried rising to his feet again. A whimper escaped his lips as he grabbed onto the back of the wheeled chair and used it as a sort of walker to help himself walk forward. He looked over his shoulder at Garak and Parmak and raised a brow, as if to say  _ “Aren’t you coming, too?” _ Quark grinned malevolently at the two Cardassians, happy to have proven his point.

Parmak shook his head. “It seems we’re forever destined to keep underestimating our dear Julian,” he said to Garak as they followed Julian and Quark out. 

They walked down a hallway until they came to a small room with four bunks bolted to the walls. “This is where you’ll sleep,” Quark declared.

Parmak tried to remain diplomatic about the situation but Julian, not caring what anyone thought, blew a loud raspberry at the sight. Quark glared at him.

“Just when I was starting to like you,” he growled.

“You can’t  _ possibly  _ expect the four of us to sleep here,” Garak complained. “I’ve seen  _ bathrooms  _ larger than this!”

“Again, did you see a sign saying ‘luxury hotel’? This is what you’ve got.”

“‘You’?” Parmak repeated, raising a brow. “What do you mean, ‘you’?”

“And I thought Cardassians could hear well.  _ You - three - will - sleep - here _ ,” Quark spelled out. 

“Let me guess.” Parmak narrowed his eyes. “You have much larger quarters, yes?”

“I  _ am  _ the captain of this vessel,” Quark boasted proudly, puffing himself up. 

Garak groaned. “No.  _ Absolutely not _ . I am  _ not _ sleeping in here. I don’t like small spaces.”

“Well that’s too bad. I thought you Cardassians were made of tougher stuff than that.” He poked at Garak’s stomach. “Well, maybe  _ some of you _ are.”

Garak stomped his foot toward Quark and hissed. Quark wisely stepped back.

“Hey, I don’t make the rules. Captains always get the biggest quarters. Everyone knows that. Now where’s the fish?”

Sure enough, Julian had managed to disappear amidst the fracas. Everyone looked around. It was only when Quark saw a beam of light coming from an open doorway that he yelped.

“THAT. DAMN. FISH!” He shouted, storming off down the corridor. Parmak and Garak quickly followed.

The room was clearly the captain’s quarters: it had a decent-sized window overlooking the streaking stars outside, a neat writing desk, a reclining chair, and a large bed, which Julian was sprawled out on. 

“We  _ really  _ need to keep a better eye on him,” Parmak whispered to Garak. “Perhaps replicate a bell…”

“ _ You are not sleeping here! _ ” Quark bellowed at Julian. “ _ Get out before you stink up the place! _ ”

Julian, pretending not to hear Quark, merely stretched lazily. His already long limbs seemed to grow and take up more space than before. This, naturally, infuriated Quark more.

“YOU ARE NOT THE CAPTAIN OF THIS SHIP -  _ I AM _ ! AND I DEMAND YOU LEAVE MY ROOM AND SLEEP IN THE BUNKS!”

Julian made a grand show of yawning before raising his right hand, the hand closest to Quark, with one finger extended. Garak knew that was an old Terran gesture meant to insult. Apparently, Quark did, too.

“Oh no no no...that’s it. That is  _ it _ . I’ve  _ tried _ being nice. I’ve  _ tried _ helping you. And this is the thanks I get? No no no…” Quark shook his head and stormed over to Julian. 

Garak made a move to stop Quark, but Parmak held up his arm to stop him. “Let Julian handle this,” he said quietly.

Garak watched as Quark grabbed one of Julian’s ankles and proceeded to try to drag him off the bed. Julian sat up and kicked at Quark with his other foot, digging his fingers into the sheets to anchor himself. Quark gave another good tug of Julian’s ankle, which only enraged Julian even more; his face turned vivid purple, his frills rippled open, and he loudly hissed at Quark. Seeing the terrifying sight, Quark shrieked and jumped back, letting go of Julian’s foot.

“Great Grand Nagus!” he shouted. “Fine.  _ Fine _ ! The room’s yours! Just...just stay the hell away from me!” With that, Quark bolted out of the room, almost colliding with Garak and Parmak as he fled.

“See?” Parmak said to Garak confidently. “I told you Julian wo…”

But when the men turned back to Julian, he looked absolutely devastated. His frills slowly folded back into his neck and the purple faded from his face. His grip on the bed loosened as he slowly sunk backwards and onto his side, his back facing Garak and Parmak, his hands concealing his frills.

A memory resurfaced in Garak’s mind, and a horrid voice echoed from the depths:  _ “ _ That’s _ his mother’s side. Those bloody frills. That hideous purple. He looks like a wild fish rather than a civilized merperson.” _

“Oh no,” Garak murmured. 

“Talk to him,” Parmak spoke, putting a hand on Garak’s shoulder. “I’ll try reasoning with Quark.”

Garak nodded as Parmak exited the room, closing the door behind him. Garak crossed to where Julian lay, barely perceiving the sounds of sniffling. He sat on the bed by Julian’s feet.

“How you reacted was completely normal,” Garak insisted. “You can’t fight that. That’s what you’re meant to do.”

Julian’s arms were positioned so his face was hidden, but he seemed to pull away more at Garak’s words.

“Those are from your mother, right?” Garak tried again. “Tell me about her. What was she like?”

One reddened hazel eye peeked out from behind an arm and studied Garak. 

“I’ll tell you about mine,” Garak offered. “She’s very kind, very sweet. Strong, doesn’t take grief from anyone...especially her own son.” He allowed himself a smile. “She taught me everything I know: gardening, tailoring, cooking… It’s because of her I learned about the great Cardassian classics. It’s because of her I learned to appreciate the beauty in the little things.” He paused. “That helped when I was working for…” 

He knew the words that came next: “my father”. But he couldn’t bring himself to say so. The memory of Enabian Tain was too strong, too dark, one he didn’t have the strength to pull up from the dredges of his brain and into the light. 

Garak glanced back over at Julian, who had lowered his arms and was listening to Garak speak. He sat up a little bit and began to mime:

He gestured to his hair, then made waves down to his hips. He gestured to his eyes, then his lips. He held his arms as though he were holding a baby, looking at the invisible child lovingly. 

“She was like you,” Garak spoke, translating Julian’s signs. “She had long wavy hair and eyes and a smile like yours. She was...very loving.”

Julian lowered his arms and nodded sadly. He pointed to himself, then tapped his forehead and made a gesture that looked like he was wiping something away.

“But you don’t remember her.” Garak paused. “So how do you know…?”

Julian’s lips creased into a mischievous smile. He mimed other people talking to him: so he heard about her from others, probably those who had known her. Maybe from his father’s servants. 

“Your father said you’d changed your name,” Garak began again. “You were originally ‘Jules’. Why the change?”

Julian sighed and motioned for something to write with. Not seeing anything nearby, Garak stood up and walked to the replicator. “Pen and paper,” he spoke clearly. Moments later, a piece of paper and an elegant pen appeared. He walked back to Julian, who was staring at the replicator with great interest. 

“Yes, ah,” Garak said, “that’s a replicator. Ignore that.” He held out the paper to Julian. “Here.”

Julian took it and began to write. After a moment, he turned the paper to Garak so he could see:

The name “Jules” was written on one side of the page. On the other was the name “Liana”. Two arrows brought them together in the middle: “Julian”.

“Liana?” Garak asked. “Is that…”

Julian smiled and made the wavy hair gesture again.

“Your mother.”

Julian nodded. He took the paper back from Garak and began to write more. Garak tried to see what he was writing but Julian was writing so quickly he couldn’t make heads or tails of his scribble. Finally, Julian gave the letter to Garak:

 

_ “My mother was a princess from the Red Sea, where the Bashir family comes from. She was beautiful and loved, but she missed home. Father wouldn’t let her go back to see her family, though. When I was born, he thought she’d put a spell on me to spite him. The doctors said it was just recessive genes that resurfaced. Mummy loved me as I was. Father never did.” _

 

Garak turned to Julian. “Your father is blind. I think you are a lovely creature. Absolutely beautiful.”

Julian chuckled a little but Garak could see him blushing. He absentmindedly began to stroke his right frill as he looked at the floor.

Garak continued to read:

 

_ “When Father suggested I be corrected, Mummy fought against it. Eventually, Father got sick of it.” _

 

“‘Got sick of it’,” Garak repeated. “Is that when he…”

Julian drew a finger across his throat.

Garak paled. “Because of that…” He shook his head. “But if she was a princess, wouldn’t her death have been noticed…?”

Julian shook his head. He mimed a large belly, holding a baby, and then dying. 

“He said she died in childbirth,” Garak surmised. “That’s why he said it was your fault she died.”

Julian hesitated before wavering his hand from side to side. Garak understood: Technically, if you looked at it a certain way, Julian  _ was  _ responsible for his mother’s death. 

“I’m so sorry,” Garak spoke.

Julian sighed and looked out the window. He slowly smiled as the stars streaked by. Garak followed his gaze and smiled himself.

“You see?” he said. “We’re traveling the stars together, just like you wanted. Liana would be proud.”

Julian swallowed hard before sitting up on his knees and throwing his arms around Garak. Garak could feel him trembling against his body. He gently stroked Julian’s dark curls.

“You will be okay,” Garak whispered. “You are strong. If you can survive Cardassia, you can handle anything.” 

Julian lifted his eyes to Garak’s, gently caressing his face as Garak noticed the purple coming back to Julian’s cheeks. He realized there was a very slight difference in color depending on his mood: when he was angry, the flush was a reddish-purple. But when he was happy, it was a bluish-purple. Perhaps he should tell Parmak.

When they brought their lips together in a kiss, Garak told himself to tell Parmak later.

Garak temporarily broke their kiss and stared into Julian’s eyes, cradling his face in his hands. He didn’t understand: how could he have fallen in love with someone without speaking to them? Sure they’d had something resembling conversations and debates - the very heart of Cardassian courtship and romance - and Julian  _ was  _ extraordinarily handsome, but he never thought he’d find himself in love with the mermale. Moreover, how did such a beautiful young creature come to love an old, decrepit thing like him? Garak searched Julian’s eyes for an answer. All he saw was his reflection gazing back from a sea of greenish-brown. Perhaps that was the answer all along. Perhaps it was just plain, simple Garak himself.

Garak noticed Julian’s lips moving. He did his best to read them:  _ “Please kiss me.” _

“Of course, my dear,” Garak whispered, putting his lips to Julian’s once more. This time Garak allowed himself to be far more open with Julian and not hold back as he had in the lab. They were alone now, and barring any sort of outside interference, they were free to do as they pleased.

Garak slid his hands down Julian’s body and thrust them beneath his shirt, causing the mermale to gasp into Garak’s mouth. He had to feel his warm skin against his hands, the softness of his flesh, the tautness of the muscles just beneath. He allowed his hands to travel up, up, up, along with Julian’s shirt, until he removed it from his body. Garak had grown so accustomed to seeing Julian bare-chested it was almost jarring for him to see Julian wearing clothing.

A quick glance downward revealed the blue-purple color spreading wide across Julian’s chest, and a telltale bulge was forming in Julian’s pants. Garak hungrily put his lips to Julian’s shoulder, biting the supple flesh, while reaching downward to fondle Julian’s growing erection. Julian loudly gasped and threw his head back, his hands trembling against Garak’s clothing, desperately trying to figure out how to remove it. Quickly, Garak stripped off his own shirt and haplessly tossed it aside. Immediately, Julian pounced on Garak, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. Julian pinned him down and was making quick work with his mouth and tongue along Garak’s shoulder ridges. Garak hissed and bucked his hips, his  _ ajan  _ beginning to strain.

Julian blazed a trail of hot kisses and little bites down Garak’s torso while holding him down by the shoulders. He played with Garak’s nipples, similarly to how Garak had played with Julian’s back at the lab. Julian sucked on them and flicked his tongue over them, causing Garak to squirm and moan. Julian then turned his attention to Garak’s  _ chufa _ , and as he did so he began to grind his hips into Garak’s groin. Garak eagerly thrust his pelvis into Julian’s, as if saying  _ yes, yes, I want you...I want you, too! _

Garak wrested his hands free of Julian’s bonds and slipped them between the two men to undo his trousers. As he worked, Julian grabbed his hands and forcibly put them on his own trousers, wanting Garak to do the same. Once Garak had wriggled out of his own trousers he was too happy to oblige Julian and strip him of his own. Free of the bonds of clothing, things really began to intensify.

Garak gently pushed Julian backward into the pillows and forced his knees apart. Garak lowered his mouth onto Julian’s throbbing cock, causing Julian to silently scream in ecstacy. He gripped the sheets with his hands and his toes crinkled and flexed as Garak’s tongue traveled the length of Julian’s erection, up and down, pausing here and there to graze his teeth along the sensitive flesh. Garak felt one of Julian’s hands pressing against the back of his head, forcing him to take all of him in his mouth, which Garak gladly did. He deeply inhaled the heady, musky scent as he worked the shaft with his lips, his  _ prUt  _ straining against his  _ ajan  _ in the most tormentingly delightful way.

Suddenly Garak felt an urgent tapping on the back of his head. He lifted his eyes to Julian, who was biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Don’t hold back, my love,” Garak ordered. “You can come.”

Julian whimpered and tensed as his seed spilled from the tip, getting in the wreath of dark curls at his cock’s base and on his taut and heaving skin, mixing with sweat and pheromones. Garak bent forward and licked the tip of Julian’s cock, prompting Julian to release a little more onto Garak’s tongue. Julian tapped Garak repeatedly again, and when Garak regarded him Julian looked embarrassed, perhaps even a little disgusted, at what he had done.

Garak shook his head and smiled calmly. “I  _ chose  _ to do that, dear,” he explained. “Don’t feel bad. You reacted as I would.”

Julian’s expression changed. He sat up and put his fingers to Garak’s  _ ajan _ , stroking it. Garak shuddered and rocked into the touch. He found himself falling backward onto the bed and Julian moved on top of him, playing Garak’s  _ ajan  _ with deft and nimble fingers while tonguing Garak’s  _ chuva _ . Garak shut his eyes and breathed in deep, filling his lungs with air thick with pheromones, sweat, and lust. This was too good to be true.

He felt Julian tapping again, and Garak strained to look down (or up?) at him. Julian was gesturing for him to evert. He sat back on his haunches and kept gesturing as he began to stroke his cock. Who was Garak to say no to a request like that? Doing as he was told, he everted, his  _ prUt  _ emerging and falling onto his belly.

Now Julian pulled Garak by the wrist. Garak sat up and studied Julian carefully. The mermale pointed to Garak, put his fist to his palm, and then pointed to himself. 

Garak paled. “Are...are you sure? You want me to…”

Julian nodded, gesturing for Garak to come forward.

“On top of you?”

Another nod.

“But your spikes…”

He shook his head now and positioned himself on his back, shifting due to his spikes,  and spreading his legs wide. Continuing to stroke himself, Julian looked up at Garak expectantly. 

“Alright, I will,” Garak agreed, sitting up and positioning himself between Julian’s legs. “But only if you promise you’ll let me know I’m hurting you, or you want me to stop.”

Julian gripped Garak by the biceps, glaring at him with hungry eyes. No, he wanted Garak to fuck him. He was absolutely certain of it. Realizing how stern he must look, Julian softened and mouthed a single word: “Please.”

“Alright,” Garak repeated. “But one moment.” He got off the bed and walked to the replicator. “Personal lubricant, please.”

A small jar appeared out of nowhere and Garak picked it up, walking back to the bed. He opened it and stuck his fingers inside, taking out a bit and rubbing it into his already slick  _ prUt _ . Theoretically the slick he naturally produced would be enough for this task, but he didn’t want to harm Julian. 

He sat back down between Julian’s legs and dug more lube out of the jar. Julian watched him intently.

“This will help,” Garak noted. “Trust me.”

Julian nodded. Of course he trusted him.

“I’m going to put some on you, okay? It might warm you a bit.”

Julian’s eyebrows rose as Garak applied the lube to Julian’s entrance. His eyes promptly widened at the sensation but then fluttered back closed as he whimpered in contentment.

Then Garak slowly inserted one finger. He felt Julian tense around him, and he watched Julian’s face for the slightest displeasurable reaction. He certainly reacted, but displeasure wasn’t what Garak was witnessing. 

Garak then inserted another finger. This time Julian whimpered and arched his back, pressing his hips into Garak’s touch. Garak maneuvered his fingers inside Julian to comfort and prepare him for what was coming.

When he was certain Julian was ready, Garak withdrew his fingers, stood on his knees, and pressed his  _ prUt  _ inside Julian’s body. It was hard to tell who enjoyed it more: Julian for the feeling, or Garak for the warmth. Both were in utter ecstasy. By the Gods, what an amazing sensation!

Garak began to move his hips, pulling himself back and pushing himself forward as Julian writhed beneath him. He watched Julian’s jaw slack, his eyes squeeze shut, his teeth clench… He watched the great purple bird’s wings slowly flap across Julian’s chest, his nipples protruding, the piercing rising along with it. He watched Julian’s ribs expand and contract as he took deep, steadying breaths. One hand clenched the sheets into a wrinkled mess and the other almost violently proceeded to jack himself off. 

Garak put his hands on Julian’s small but firm ass and pushed himself in further. He dug his nails into the flesh, causing Julian to wordlessly scream and arch his back so much that practically only his shoulder blades still touched the bed. 

“Hands on me,” Garak ordered as he thrust. “Hands on me now.”

Julian readily complied and grabbed at Garak. Now it was his turn to claw into Garak’s skin, his human nails pressing sharply into his Cardassian scales. Garak hissed loudly and bit back a scream.

To his shock, he felt a strike across his face. It was Julian, who was glaring at him. He pointed at Garak and then mimed a scream. Then he slapped himself in the chest. “ _ Scream for me! _ ” he was demanding. “ _ Scream for me! _ ”

“Julian…”

Julian bared his teeth and screamed again. He wanted this. But what about the others…

Oh  _ fuck  _ it. 

Garak loudly cried out as he gave an epic thrust into Julian, and the younger man screamed back, his legs buckling and flailing as Garak came hard, spilling himself into his lover’s body. Likewise, Julian also came in great spurts, splattering on both himself and Garak. A white hot light flashed through both of them, going from Garak to Julian and back again. It felt like free-falling into oblivion.

Wearily, Garak pulled himself out of Julian and moved to one side of the bed, panting heavily. Julian immediately pulled him down into the pillows and held him close, breathing just as Garak himself was, and gripping his shoulders as if Garak would suddenly leave him.

Garak was too out of breath to say anything, so he merely reached an arm around Julian and stroked his hair, gently pulling the mermale closer into him. It wasn’t exactly fucking on a beach, and it didn’t necessarily involve a mermale’s tail binding him, but Garak could live with this reality rather than his sugar-coated fantasy.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're in the home stretch! But of course things can't go perfectly...where would the conflict be?

The ship finally arrived on the edge of Sol System space. Quark turned to Julian, who hadn’t done much the past few days but stare out various windows at the wonders that passed him by. “You’ll be home soon,” he said. “I bet you’re happy.”

Julian looked over his shoulder at Quark (and subsequently Garak and Parmak, who were nearby) from his perch by a particularly large window and sort of apathetically shrugged. He turned back to the window and put his hand on the glass.

“Don’t get your nasty prints all over the glass,” Quark warned.

Julian glared at him over his shoulder and resumed (quite literally) staring out into space.

“A ‘you’re welcome’ would be nice,” Quark grumbled.

“He’d give you one if you’d find a way to take that infernal disk off his neck,” Parmak muttered, stirring a cup of tea.

Quark shot a glare at Parmak. “Excuse me, Doctor High-and-Mighty,” he began, “but I’ve worked every chance I’ve had on that stupid thing. He can’t sit still long enough and I go cross-eyed if I stare at the components for too long. You wanna try? Be my guest. _You_ pin ‘im down and fight him.” He paused, crossing his arms over his chest. “Maybe the Federation can figure this out. It’s better than when we left Cardassia, that’s for sure.”

Quark had managed more progress in removing the offending disk from Julian’s neck, but it was still extremely slow-going. He’d found a way to completely disable the neurotoxin disruptors and managed to get about two of the pins dislodged from Julian’s throat, which had the unfortunate effect of stabbing him in the neck if he turned his head too quickly. Quark naturally found this funny; Parmak and Garak, far less so.

“We should be at Earth in, eh, about an hour and a half or so,” Quark went on, glancing at a chronometer. “You think we should land at Fed HQ or…”

Julian suddenly seized. He doubled over and gripped his stomach, wincing in great pain. Garak and Parmak rushed to his side.

“What’s happening?” Garak asked.

Parmak studied Julian for a moment before turning almost as pale as his hair. “He’s reverting.”

Julian’s head shot up, his eyes wide with fear. He was shaking his head - _no, no, no!_ \- and grasping at Garak’s shirt. Garak in turn looked at Parmak.

“We’ve got to stop it!” Garak ordered frantically.

“There’s no way to!” Parmak argued. “I can’t replicate the chemicals or the materials to make it.”

Julian howled silently as he clutched his stomach again. Garak rounded on Parmak, clamping his hands on his shoulders, his eyes wild.

“DO SOMETHING, DOCTOR!” he demanded, shaking Parmak.

“ _There is absolutely nothing I_ can _do!_ ” Parmak shouted back, breaking free from Garak’s grasp, looking just as harried as Garak. He ran his fingers through his white hair and turned to Julian. “We just have to make him comfortable.”

Julian violently retched before vomiting a neon green-colored substance onto the deck. Quark jumped back and groaned.

“Well, there goes my deposit,” he muttered.

“Believe me,” Parmak spoke, rubbing Julian’s back, “your deposit’s _long_ gone.”

Quark eyed Parmak. “What is that supposed to…”

BLAM! The ship rocked violently, throwing Garak and Quark to the deck as Parmak braced himself and Julian.

“We can’t have collided with anything!” Quark exclaimed. “We’re not that close to the Kuiper…”

“That’s not a collision,” Garak interrupted darkly. He rose to his feet and ran to the window. He knew what it was but he inwardly prayed it wasn’t so.

Oh, but it was. A Cardassian warship emerged out of hyperspace and was aiming right for them. “We’ve been followed.”

Parmak shakily rose to his feet, his face devoid of expression, his hands clenched into fists. “You. Are. _Fucking_ . _Kidding._ Me,” he spoke through gritted teeth.

Garak raised a brow ridge. That was certainly _a_ reaction to have.

Parmak lifted Julian into his arms. “I’ll take him to bed. I’ll do what I can but for the love of God, you have to stop them.” The ship rocked again with another blast. “We must get him to Earth! We cannot fail!” With that, Parmak carried Julian back to his bedroom.

A pinging sound caught Garak and Quark’s attentions. “They’re hailing us,” Quark muttered.

“Let me handle this,” Garak ordered, stepping to the viewscreen. “And don’t say a damn word.” He turned to the screen. “Gul Dukat, and here I thought I’d never see your lovely face again.”

The menacing face of Dukat and his muscle Fedat appeared on the monitor. Dukat made a dramatic show of sighing and shaking his head. “Garak, Garak, Garak...why am I not surprised you’re involved? Whatever would your father think?”

The reference to Tain stuck in his brain like an errant spur. “Funny, I gave up caring what he thought of me when I left the Order,” he replied, doing his best to keep a flippant air.

“Let’s cut to the chase, Garak,” Dukat spoke, narrowing his eyes. “I know you have the creature on board. I know that doctor is involved. And I know you’re all going to cooperate and hand the creature over else I blow your ship into smithereens.”

“What a surprising amount of knowledge for a fool!” Garak retorted with a devilish grin. “Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, you are very wrong.”

“Tell us where the creature is or we will blow you out of the sky!”

“Ah, wrong again, Dukat! For we aren’t in the sky but in the stars. Are you truly so blind you cannot see that obvious fact?”

Garak knew he was pouring fuel into Dukat’s fire. This could not go much worse.

“What’s it matter to you?” Quark stepped in, much to Garak and Dukat’s surprise. “Blow us up! The mermale’s probably gonna die anyway! What good’s a dead fish to ya? Huh?”

Dukat’s eyes widened at this revelation as he leaned back in his chair. “ _Is_ he now?” he asked, putting his fingertips together. “Why, my dear Ferengi, that changes _everything_!”

“Uh,” Quark began, withering under Garak’s death stare, “...it does?”

“Certainly! We need him for parts anyway! His father even gave us the permission for it! If that’s the case we’ll simply beam aboard and take him then! Because, as you said…” He leaned toward the camera, flashing his teeth in a sick grin, “what good is he to you dead?”

Quark shook with fear, looking from both Garak to Dukat. “Wh-what I meant was...n-no, you don’t understand…”

“My dear Ferengi, you allied yourself with the wrong team. Prepare to be boarded.” With that, the screen went blank.

Garak rounded on Quark, who threw up his hands in defense. “P-please, please believe me!” Quark sputtered. “I-I didn’t mean...I-I-I thought he didn’t care…”

“I will deal with you later,” Garak snarled. “Garak to Parmak. We’ve got company.”

“Damnit!” came Parmak’s voice over the loudspeakers. “Keep them away from Julian! He’s...he’s not doing very well! His body is rejecting everything foreign, purging itself of impurities! This is bad, Garak. This is very, very bad!”

Garak gritted his teeth and growled at the cowering Ferengi. “You are coming with me. I hope you know how to fire a phaser.”

Quark merely squeaked in response.

 

\---

 

Gul Dukat did not waste any time. The second he stepped off the transporter platform he was in Garak’s face.

“Where is it?” he asked.

“Not even a ‘hello’,” Garak snipped. “I see how it is.”

“Don’t play games with me, Garak. Where. Is. The creature?”

“There are plenty of creatures here. You’re going to have to be specific.”

Fedat raised a blaster to Garak’s forehead. “How’s _this_ for specific?”

“Predictable. But I’m sorry to say, Dukat, you won’t get him.”

“You’re right.” Dukat gestured to Fedat, who nodded and exited the room. “ _He_ will.”

“ _My God_ , do they deprive you of _all_ sense of humor through the Council? Because if so I’m glad I never joined.”

“I’m only tolerating your cheek because it’s not you I’m after, though I will not hesitate to say you are in severe trouble when you return.”

“You assume I’ll return.”

“I will make it so you can’t show your face in any civilized system without getting a phaser blast to your head. If you think for one second that…”

A loud crash and a phaser blast interrupted Dukat’s speech. Both he and Garak whipped their heads in the direction of the noise. Dukat glowered at Garak before he bolted out of the room. Garak followed.

The two Cardassians ran to the sound of the noise, and to their surprise, they found Fedat lying on his back and cowering at Quark, who now had Fedat’s enormous blaster in his hands.

“What in the…” Dukat began, but Garak foisted his own phaser and pointed it at Dukat’s throat.

“I really don’t want to do this, Gul,” Garak spoke, “but I’m afraid I have no choice. You will not take Julian alive.”

“You gave it a name, how sweet,” Dukat chuckled darkly. “Don’t you realize that if you name a wild animal, it just makes it harder to return to the wild?”

“Julian’s his damn name, dumbass,” Quark snapped. “He told them so. I dunno how, but I assume he can write or something. _But his name is Julian_.”

Dukat sighed loudly. “I don’t care what you call it, the creature belongs to the State.” He glanced at Garak over his shoulder. “You are stealing State property and defying Cardassia. Are you even a true son of Cardassia anymore, Garak, or have you really turned your back on your people?”

Garak allowed himself a loud laugh. “Have _I_ turned my back on Cardassia? What about you? You’re using the State to cover up your scheme to kill Julian and sell him for parts. How much of that money will actually go back to the Council, hmm? Rather, how much of it will pad your own coffers?”

Dukat sneered. “Good luck proving that. As I said, I can blacklist your name so no one believes another word you say again.”

“It’ll be impossible to do if you’re dead.”

Quicker than Garak could react, Dukat whirled about and slammed Garak across the face. Garak stumbled backward and into the bulkhead, the impact knocking the phaser out of his hand and sending it flying. Dukat caught it and fired a blast at Quark. Fortunately, the Ferengi was slightly faster than Garak, so the phaser bolt only grazed him. Still, it was enough to knock him down. Fedat scrambled to his feet and grabbed his blaster.

“Find the creature, I don’t care whether it’s dead or alive!” Dukat shouted at Fedat. “If you must kill it, be quick and don’t damage anything.”

Garak roared and barrelled into Dukat, both of them crashing into the bulkhead. The two struggled against each other, throwing punches and drawing blood, as Fedat sprinted through the ship to find Julian. There would be no way to warn Parmak. He was on his own.

But yet, Garak found himself thinking as he dodged one of Dukat’s blows, he knew Parmak would figure things out. He’d fight back until his very last breath.

Breath.

 _Julian_.

Parmak might be formidable, but if anything should happen to him, Julian was done for. And if Parmak was right, and Julian’s transformation was reversing, time was even more precious. There was no great body of water on the ship; if Julian became a mermale again, he would surely die.

 _I will not let you die_ , Garak thought as he threw a punch that connected to Dukat’s jaw with a resounding _crack_ . _No, we’ve made it too far._ You’ve _made it too far. I will not let it end this way!_

“He’s gone!” came Fedat’s voice. He was coming back with Parmak in a headlock. “The thing’s gone!”

“ _He can’t be gone - this is a spaceship!_ ” Dukat roared, shoving Garak away and wiping his bleeding mouth. He stormed over to Parmak and seized the doctor by the shirt. “Where did you hide the creature, Doctor? May I remind you, lying to a Gul is a grave offense!”

Parmak merely spit in Dukat’s eye.

Dukat angrily threw Parmak into the bulkhead, slamming his head against the metal wall. “Don’t toy with me, you Northern bastard! I will kill you and everyone on this ship if you don’t tell me where the hell you’ve hidden the creature!”

“Then...kill...us…” Parmak gasped under Dukat’s grip. He sneered. “I welcome death with open arms.”

“Then you will get your…”

Fedat suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream. Dukat, Parmak, and Garak all turned to see Fedat holding his throat, which was bleeding profusely. He let out a strangled gurgle before collapsing dead onto the deck. Barely standing straight, his face pale and his frills halfway extended, panting heavily, and trembling violently, was Julian. In one hand he clutched a bloody silver fork.

“YOU!” Dukat screamed.

Julian bared his teeth and hissed as loudly as he could before throwing the fork at Dukat’s throat. It hit its mark almost perfectly. Dukat howled in pain as he let go of Parmak, causing the Doctor to collapse to the deck.

Garak scrambled to his feet and rushed to Julian, whose knees were giving out. A quick glance at Julian’s feet and waist revealed a telltale teal.

“ _How_?” Garak asked.

Julian grinned back and kissed the tip of Garak’s nose before he seized and crumpled into Garak’s arms.

“Julian…” Parmak spoke, slowly collecting himself from the floor. “I...I told you...to hide…”

Julian shook his head and pulled himself from Garak’s grip. Crawling along the deck he grabbed Fedat’s blaster and aimed it at Dukat.

“You got lucky once,” Dukat snarled at Julian, pulling the fork from his throat to a great stream of blood, “but your luck has run out!” He kicked the rifle away from Julian and stomped on Julian’s hand; the mermale howled as he tried to pull his arm free as Dukat pulled a knife from his belt.

“You’ve cost me far more than you’re worth,” Dukat spat, glaring down at Julian. “No wonder your father disowned you: you are a waste of life and a waste of my time!”

Julian forced himself to look up at Garak. Letting out another great hiss and getting spittle all over Dukat’s boots, Julian whipped his hip forward, as if his legs were a tail, and kicked Dukat’s legs out from under him. Dukat fell to the deck as Julian leapt on top of him, trying to pull the knife from his grip.

“ _Julian, no_!” Garak shouted, rising to his feet to get to Julian, but Parmak stopped him.

“Get to the bridge!” Parmak ordered. “You have to make sure we don’t crash into Earth!”

“But Julian…”

Parmak glanced over his shoulder at the scuffle and smirked. “I think he’s got it under control.”

Garak looked from the scuffle to the cockpit. Parmak was right: with Quark incapacitated, Garak was the only one who could fly the ship. It had to be close to Earth now. Everyone’s fate was in his hands.

“ _Go, damn you!_ ” Parmak shouted angrily.

Garak slowly nodded and, turning on his heels, made his way for the bridge.

“GARAK, BEHIND YOU!”

Garak stopped and whirled about. That wasn’t Quark. That wasn’t Parmak, either. It was…

No. It couldn’t be.

Julian had pinned Dukat to the deck and was trying to pry the knife from his hands, which was poised to be thrown at Garak. A bright red trail of blood trickled down the left side of Julian’s neck, where the disk should be.

But it was gone.

“Julian?” Garak asked, his heart skipping a beat.

“Garak!” Yes. Yes it really was. That really had been Julian. He could speak again. The puzzle was finally complete! “Just...go! I’ve...I’ve got him!”

Garak was riveted to his spot. He knew he had to reach the bridge (where a klaxon was starting to sound) but his eyes were focused on Julian. The disk must have gotten ripped off in the struggle, which explains why Julian was bleeding. _Was_ he okay, though? Would that bleeding kill him?

No, the ship crashing into Earth would do that.

“Julian…”

“Garak, _please_ !” Julian pleaded. “You’ve got to…” His body suddenly went rigid as he clutched at his throat, gasping repeatedly. He was losing the ability to breathe oxygen. “Go!” he strangled out. _“Go!”_

Garak nodded once and ran to the bridge. The beautiful blue-green orb of Earth loomed large in the viewfinder. Garak swallowed hard and rushed to the controls, which were screaming about proximity sensors and the speed of the ship being too fast. They should’ve slowed down long ago. This would be tough.

Garak grabbed the steering controls and pulled back hard, trying to mitigate the ship’s descent. As the ship hit the atmosphere, it began to violently shake and heat up. Garak quickly looked over the controls and began to flip switches. The sensors kept screaming, the ship kept shaking. He cursed and tried to slow the ship down. It was responding, but barely.

They were over a large band of ocean. _Great_ , Garak thought ruefully, _if we crash, at least Julian will be able to breathe for a few moments before the impact kills him_.

“Parmak to Garak!” Parmak’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “I...I can’t believe it. Julian’s killed Dukat!”

Garak pumped his fist in victory. Go, Julian, go! “How is he otherwise?”

“He can’t breathe! We need to get him in water!”

“Get him to the cargo bay,” Garak ordered, rushing over to the requisite controls. “When I say go, open the doors and push Julian out.”

“Are you insane!? What the hell are you…”

“We’re over an ocean and this is the only way!” Garak shouted back. “If we can at least save him, that’s enough for me.”

“The impact will kill him!”

“WHY DO YOU THINK I’M TRYING TO SLOW THE SHIP!? JUST GET HIM TO THE CARGO BAY! NOW!”

Garak continued to flip switches and watch monitors. The ship was indeed slowing but it wasn’t slowing enough. He had to fly low enough and slow enough for Julian to jump into the ocean and survive. Would he and Parmak and Quark, though...that was another story.

“We’re here,” Parmak’s voice returned a few moments later. “You better know what you’re doing.”

“Your lips to God’s ears,” Garak muttered. “Get ready, we’re almost at a low enough altitude.”

Garak maneuvered the ship over the ocean. There were islands in the distance. The readouts said they were a thousand kilometers south of a place called Hawaii.

More alarms blared as Garak flew even lower. Garak tried to block them out.

“Almost there…”

“Garak…” Julian sounded direly weak. “Garak...I’m so…”

“We’re almost home, Julian, my dear,” Garak replied, trying desperately to maintain a calm facade. “You can do this. Save your strength.”

“Garak...I...I love…”

Garak briefly shut his eyes to block the tears, but he quickly opened them. “I know, darling,” he replied. “I know. Parmak, we’re as low as we can get. Now!”

“Thank you,” Julian breathed. The sound of mechanical parts and metal doors drowned out the communicator, followed by a faint splash.

“He’s out!” Parmak shouted. “But I can’t...I can’t see…”

Garak growled as he banked the ship hard left, looping back and looking for Julian. There was a stirring of bubbles where Julian had landed, but other than that…

“I don’t see him,” Garak spoke.

Silence on the other end. A lump formed in Garak’s throat. He couldn’t have died. Dear god please do not let him die now…

Suddenly, a flash of copper and teal erupted from the water. Leaping into the air like a dolphin, Julian resurfaced and dove back underwater.

“He’s alive!” Garak shouted. “Parmak, he’s alive!”

“I know!” Parmak’s voice returned. “Can you hear him?”

Garak strained to hear. His heart skipped a beat as Julian’s joyful whooping and cheering faintly echoed through the ship.

“We did it, Mister Garak,” Parmak breathed. “He’s home. He’s free.”

Garak collapsed into the pilot’s chair and leaned back, his body drained of all energy. He erupted into laughter as tears streamed down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if this chapter reads awkwardly. I do not write action sequences well. I hope you enjoyed it regardless!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey's come to an end. Goodbyes are never easy.
> 
> (Featuring two cameos from more Starfleet officers!)

Garak sat on the beach of a small, uninhabited island and watched Julian frolic in the waves. He watched as Julian would leap from the water, his scales glittering in the bright sunlight, and dive back under the surface. Sometimes he’d do a backflip, others he’d do a spinning move, he’d do somersaults, all the while whooping and hollering at the top of his lungs. Garak smiled: he was so happy Julian was free, but still…

“He hasn’t stopped yet?” Parmak asked, looking out at Julian. He had stripped down to his shirtsleeves and rolled up his pants to just below his knees and was walking barefoot in the sand. “I thought he’d tire himself out by now.”

“I don’t think it’s possible for that man to tire out,” Garak replied, leaning back onto his hands. “He’s been jumping around since we landed the ship.”

The island was a few hundred kilometers off the coast of Hawaii. It wasn’t a large island, probably about a mile long, and it had some well-hidden coves and grottos. Garak insisted on landing on uninhabited space for fear of drawing too much attention. Parmak noted that their entering the atmosphere would’ve caused plenty of attention if the Federation wasn’t blind, but Garak didn’t want to think of that right now. All he wanted was for Julian to enjoy his regained freedom.

Parmak stuck his hands in his pockets and turned his body to the ocean, the wind whipping his face. He sighed contently. “The air is so fresh here. So peaceful. Nothing like Cardassia. I could almost live here.”

“This coming from someone from the Northern continent.”

“Just because I’m from a slightly cooler area doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy bright sunlight and cool breezes. What are those things Julian’s encountered?”

Garak looked back out at Julian. Long, smooth fish-like creatures that looked like bullets were swimming and leaping alongside him. They were chattering and chirping and flipping just as Julian was.

“I’m...not sure,” Garak replied, squinting to get a better look at them. “They can’t be other merpeople; they’re not half-human.”

“We’ll have to ask Julian when he comes back to rest.” Parmak snorted. “ _If_ he comes back to rest.”

“Garak! Parmak! Look!” Julian shouted, though he was so far out they barely heard him. “Dolphins! Aren’t they fantastic?”

“Dolphins,” Parmak repeated, putting his hand to his chin. “I’ve never heard of them. Interesting-looking creatures, though. They seem intelligent.”

“Are you seeing this?” Julian shouted. “Garak, watch me!”

Garak laughed quietly as Parmak sat down next to him. “He’s been showing off. Wants to show me what he’s capable of now that he’s not in that test tube, I suppose.”

“If I were held captive in a cell,” Parmak began, “I’d be doing the same.”

“GARAK YOU’RE NOT WATCHING.”

“You’re doing marvelous, my dear!” Garak shouted back, having indeed missed whatever trick Julian had just accomplished.

“You are _impossible_! Fine, I’ll come to you.” Julian dove under the water and swam back to the island, propping himself up on a nearby cluster of rocks and shaking water from his curls. “I want you to watch what I can do!” he continued, fluffing his hair with his fingers.

“I’ve been watching for a good hour,” Garak replied. “Believe me, I’m quite impressed!”

Julian beamed and stretched his arms wide. “Ahh, how amazing this feels! So different from England. So much warmer! So much brighter! I could live here forever!”

“Well, you certainly _could_ if you wanted,” Parmak replied.

Julian sombered a bit. “Yes, it’s not as if I have anything to go home to. Can’t go back because my father wants nothing to do with me, and I can’t return to my mother’s waters because they barely know I exist.”

“Maybe they could see the resemblance,” Garak offered.

Julian smiled sadly. “Possibly, but...it’s quite a long swim from here. This is the Pacific, and the Red Sea is very, very far away. Perhaps it’s time I made a life for myself.” He stared out into the vast tract of blue water and how it met with the blue sky. “I honestly didn’t think I’d make it back home. I thought I’d die on Cardassia. Now that I’m back on Earth, I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m a man without a country.”

“You’re intelligent enough, dear,” Parmak said with a smile. “You’ll figure something out.”

Julian turned to Parmak. “You said you were going to speak to the Federation about how you made me human. Will you still do that?”

“With your permission, of course. You do have a say in this.”

Julian thought for a moment. “Do you think they’ll find a way to make me _permanently_ human?”

“I don’t know,” Parmak admitted gently. “I hope they do.”

“Me, too. Because at least then I can travel freely. I won’t be stuck to one ocean, or one sea. I can see all the great cities and monuments and animals and...ahh!” He draped himself backward across the rock and stretched his long, sinuous fingers. “I can’t bear to live like this anymore! I want to see the world...to see the galaxy! You two have given me such a spectacular gift! But then,” he sat back up and studied the two Cardassians, “then I can’t show you all the amazing things back home. I can’t show you our home, our customs, Kukalaka…”

“Kuka- _what_?”

Julian grinned. “Kukalaka. He’s my kraken. Well, rather, he’s _a_ kraken that’s my friend. You can’t own a kraken, they own themselves. At least, that’s what Kukalaka always told me…”

“But what _is_ a kraken?”

“Oh he’s _spectacular_ \- they all are, really. They’re like octopi but much, much larger, big enough to take out whole ships!” He began to mime with his hands just as he had done on Cardassia. “They have these huge tentacles that wrap around things, and when they fight each other it’s a serious death match! And then their eyes...they’re the size of plates! And…” Julian got so into what he was talking about he didn’t realize he’d leaned too far over and fell into the sea with a splash. Parmak burst into laughter while Garak smiled faintly.

Julian resurfaced, whipping water from his hair as he climbed back onto the rock. “Well, now you’ve seen how very graceful I am,” he joked with a sheepish grin. “Ah, yes, Kukalaka, though. Yes, yes, so, when I was a little boy and my father was... _changing_ me…” (his voice momentarily darkened) “...I got scared so I swam away. I had no idea where I was going, I just knew I had to get away from that place.

“Now, mind you, I was very small and not very fast, but somehow I’d gotten completely lost and couldn’t find my way home. The waters were dark and cold and I couldn’t see the sunlight, so I was really deep. I remember starting to cry, and that’s when Kukalaka appeared. He was huge, but he was a baby just like I was. I was scared he was going to eat me, because that’s the story Father always told me: ‘Don’t go near kraken, boy, they’ll suck out your guts with their tentacles!’”

“How horrific!” Parmak gasped.

“Yes, well,” Julian said with a shrug, “my father has always had a, uh...a _way_ with words. Krakens can’t do that, though: they’re quite literally giant octopi or giant squid: they use their tentacles to latch onto things like we’d use our hands.

“So here I am, scared out of my wits, but Kukalaka was just as scared of me as I was of him. But he made the first move: he offered one of his tentacles, which I took, and he eventually led me back home. My father was livid, of course, and he tried to have his guards kill Kukalaka, but I pleaded with him to let him go. Since I spared Kukalaka’s life - and he mine - we’ve been friends ever since.” Julian puffed out his chest. “I happen to be the only mermale trusted by Kukalaka’s pod, quite possibly the only mermale to _ever_ gain the trust of a kraken. Or at least, perhaps in recent memory. They tell me their stories, and…”

“They speak your language?”

“No, no, I can understand them. It took a very long time, and that’s probably the one good thing to come out of my father’s tweaking of my brain, because I can understand quite a few sea creatures, actually. Kraken, dolphin, whale, seal…

“Oh, that reminds me! I had a baby seal follow me home when I was about ten. Well, I say ‘followed’ but I gave her my lunch from school...my stepmother isn’t a very good cook. Anyway, the baby seal followed me home but Father wouldn’t let me keep her. I named her Tessa.” Julian smiled smugly. “I kept her anyway. One of the cooks, Gregory, helped me take care of Tessa. That is, until someone ratted Gregory and me out and Father had Tessa removed.”

“Removed?” Parmak repeated. “Is that the same thing he did with your birth mother?”

Julian laughed darkly. “You’re figuring him out. I’m not sure if I should be scared or impressed.” He turned to Garak. “You’ve been awfully quiet, is everything okay?”

“He’s been quiet because he hasn’t been able to get a word in edgewise!” Parmak laughed. Garak gave Parmak a look while Julian blushed and looked away.

“Yes, sorry...I, um, tend to forget myself…” he muttered.

“You haven’t spoken in weeks, though,” Parmak pointed out. “You’ve got a lot to say!”

“That’s not what he means,” Garak muttered. He stood up and dusted sand from his trousers. “I think I’ve had enough sun today, I’m going back to the ship.”

Julian’s expression changed. “Is everything okay, Garak? Am I talking too much?”

Garak smiled gently at Julian. “You’re fine, dear. I just… Please excuse me.” Without another word, Garak retreated back to the ship, Parmak and Julian staring after him in confusion.

 

***

 

Quark had since recovered from his wounds and was busy trying to clean up the great mess Julian’s fighting with Fedat and Dukat had caused. He looked at the bodies of the slain Cardassians and shook his head.

“I am _never_ getting that deposit back now,” he grumbled.

He heard Garak’s approaching footsteps and looked up from his work. “Don’t be tracking sand in here,” he ordered.

“There are things called _vacuums_ ,” Garak replied sarcastically. “Perhaps you’ve heard of them.” Without breaking his stride, Garak passed Quark.

“What’s _your_ problem?” Quark asked.

“Too bright,” Garak replied flatly.

“‘Too bright’?” Quark repeated. “Aren’t you Cardassians supposed to like the heat?”

“Heat, yes. Light, no. Are we done here?” Garak stopped walking and turned to face Quark.

“No, we’re not. If you’re gonna be in the ship, you’re gonna help me clean.”

“Are you going to ask me any more questions?”

“If it means you’ll help clean the mess you made, I won’t.”

Garak nodded once. “Deal.”

Cleaning the ship helped Garak take his focus off of Julian - because that was what was bothering him. Now they were on Earth and Julian was free, his and Parmak’s mission was complete. There was nothing left for them to do. They weren’t necessary free to return to Cardassia - not with the death of a Gul hanging over his head like a one-ton weight on a filament wire. Where _could_ he and Parmak go? Could they stay on Earth? Julian would like that. But would Garak? As miserable as it could be, Cardassia was his home. It was practically all he’d ever known.

He wished he could be more adventurous like Julian. He wished he had Julian’s energy, his vivacity, his sheer joy of living. Of course there was the little factor that Julian was, in Earth years, almost half Garak’s age. But it was also a naivete, something Garak had lost long ago...if he even had it. Julian was no fool, but his youth belied a trusting nature, an adventurous soul looking beyond where he was to where he could be. That would dull in time.

But considering Julian, Garak wondered if that might do more harm than good. He could not imagine the mermale as an older man with the same jaded views that Garak possessed. Of course, that was because of the life he had led. Julian was not trained to be a spy. He was, ultimately, a poor little rich boy. He might be in for a rude awakening.

_“Yes, it’s not as if I have anything to go home to. … Now that I’m back on Earth, I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m a man without a country.”_

Garak paused and looked out a viewport. He had been working for hours and the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky vivid pinks, purples, and oranges. Birds glided on the breeze and the dolphins - is that what Julian called them? - were just visible, their back fins poking out of the water. They vaguely reminded him of Julian’s spikes.

“So _there’s_ where you’ve been hiding.”

Garak turned about to see Parmak standing behind him, his arms folded over his chest. He had piled his long white hair into a bun on top of his head and threaded little beads and flowers into it. It looked quite elegant.

“Quark needed help cleaning, I needed to get out of the sun,” Garak replied simply, turning back to his work. “A match made in heaven.”

“The match made in heaven is the one between you and Julian,” Parmak pointed out. “He’s out there thinking you’re angry at him.”

“Why in the world would I be angry at him? I’m happy for him.”

“ _Are_ you, though? Quark told me you’ve been moping as you’re mopping.”

“ _Please_ tell me you didn’t come up with that.”

“Quark sends his regards. But anyway, Julian thinks you’re mad because he’s talking too much.”

Garak scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“ _Is_ it? You stormed off after I commented you couldn’t get a word in while Julian was speaking. Julian thinks now that he can talk again you want nothing to do with him.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth!” Garak shouted, whirling about to face Parmak again.

The sunlight glinted off the doctor’s glasses as he lifted his head just so. “Oh? Then praytell, why _did_ you run away?”

“You know why,” Garak snarled. “Don’t play stupid with me.”

Parmak did not react. “We knew from the beginning that if we were successful, this would be the end result. Julian is back where he belongs.”

“But we can’t go back where _we_ belong.”

Parmak raised a brow. “I never thought I truly belonged on Cardassia, if I must be honest. I’ve always felt... _different_ , like I’m not meant for that type of life. I’ve always thought about retiring to the Ailartsua colony when the time was right. Perhaps now is that time.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea for _you_ , but not _me_.”

“Why, because you’re too posh for petty artists and weavers? Don’t you want to surround yourself with all of Cardassia’s knowledge with none of Cardassia’s bureaucracy?”

“I...I don’t…” Garak grunted loudly and shoved aside his work, planting his hands on a table and hanging his head. “This isn’t what I thought would happen. This isn’t what I expected. None of this should have happened! I wish I’d never met Julian in the first place!”

“You don’t mean that,” Parmak replied quietly.

“Had I never seen that blasted mermale none of this ever would’ve happened!” Garak exploded. “I’d just be a plain, simple janitor…”

“And you’d be bored out of your mind. Do you remember when we first met? What did I say to you?”

“It seems like a lifetime ago. I can’t remember.”

“I do. I said I noticed you because you stood out like a sore thumb. You want to think you can be ‘plain and simple’ but that is not Elim Garak’s style. Not by a long shot.”

Garak slowly looked up at Parmak. “That _does_ remind me...how do you know…”

“Because I’m a double agent for the Federation,” Parmak replied with a smile. “I told you: I’ve never fit in with Cardassian society, and with all of this happening, it’s better that I remove myself permanently when it’s over. Fake my own death or something.

“You were the impetus for me to relay his abduction back to the Federation, because they certainly didn’t know. Hell, I wasn’t really in contact with them until I discovered what the ‘top secret specimen’ was. Then I saw the connection you two had formed - or rather, were starting to form - and I knew what I had to do.”

“Were you ever planning on telling me any of this?” Garak asked.

Parmak shrugged. “Probably not. It wasn’t necessarily something you needed to know.”

Garak glared at Parmak. “So you’re saying you could’ve ended this far sooner and far easier than everything we just went through. You could’ve spared Dukat’s life and that of his crony.”

“You’re quite stupid if you think it’s that easy,” Parmak snapped. “I had to do everything without suspicion. I don’t normally work for Dukat; he forced me into helping him. I had to make it seem to him that everything was okay, and I had to make it seem to the Council that I was simply doing my job: making observations on a stray creature we’d gotten hold of. You think I could simply dial up the Federation and let them know we had a mermale captive on Cardassia? The diplomatic repercussions alone would be catastrophic.”

“And this isn’t?”

“Dukat can’t harm Julian now...he can’t harm _anyone_ anymore. Julian is free. I modified an unknown procedure and it worked, albeit temporarily. And that wasn’t even me - much of this is because of you! I never would’ve come up with half the ideas you did.” Parmak chuckled. “Just because I have an advanced degree doesn’t mean I’m intelligent. You have a lot more knowledge that I don’t, see things that I can’t. Ultimately, Julian has you to thank for bringing him home, not me.”

Garak scoffed again.

Parmak shrugged. “Look, I don’t care what you think of me. What I _do_ care about is the young man out there who thinks he’s done something to offend you. Go out there and talk with him, Garak. Hiding your feelings won’t get you anywhere.” He took a broom from against the wall. “I’ll finish up here. Go to Julian. _Please_ , Garak.”

Garak sighed. “It’s not that easy, Doctor.”

“Nothing worth doing ever is.” Parmak’s smile grew larger. “You of all people taught me that.”

 

***

 

Garak stepped back out of the ship when the sun had gone down and the sky was alight with stars. Such a different sky than that of Cardassia. So much more peaceful.

Maybe Parmak was right. Maybe it was time to slow down. Retire from the life he once knew. Start over again. But he was so old...could he even reset his entire way of thinking?

The soft sound of waves crashing reminded Garak that he had done just that. Just because of a beautiful captive mermale.

Garak walked onto the sand, which was much cooler now. Insects chirped and sang; no birds could be heard. No animals were chattering. No mermales were peeking up from the waves.

Garak rolled up his trousers to his knees much as Parmak had done and walked to the water. He tried to wade into it but it was freezing; he let a little noise slip from his lips as he jumped back.

“You have to ease into it, one step at a time.”

Garak looked up at the sound of the voice. Julian was perched on his rock once more, his curls gently gracing his fine face. His ballgown fin fluttered in the water.

“How would you know to enter water slowly?” Garak asked, adding a smile to show he was teasing him.

Julian understood immediately. Smiling back, he said, “Let’s just say I got a... _crash course_.” He paused. “Is everything okay? I haven’t disappointed you, have I?”

“I don’t think you could ever do such a thing,” Garak replied, walking over to the rocks. “If anything, you never fail to impress me.”

Julian chuckled and lowered his eyes. 

“I don’t dislike you because you can speak again,” Garak went on, trying to scale a nearby rock so he could sit with Julian. “In fact, if I may say, you have one of the most melodious voices I’ve ever heard in my life. I could listen to you speak about anything.”

Julian rubbed his neck with his hand, looking beautifully bashful. “Oh...well, that’s… Wow, that’s quite honestly… That’s the…” He laughed and looked up again. “My dear Mister Garak, I do believe you’ve rendered me speechless. People back home would adore you.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I really wish I could show you my home,” Julian sighed. “People don’t normally think of the North Sea as inherently beautiful but… I think you’d like it. It’s a bit cold for you but…”

“I’d put up with anything so long as it made you happy.”

“Now that _I_ find hard to believe.”

A brief pause before Garak finally asked, “Are we going to talk about what happens next between us?”

Julian’s breath caught in his throat as he looked down at his tail. “Truth be told, I’ve been dreading this since we left Cardassia...since the procedure, really. I was once told that people come into our lives for a reason, and when that reason is over, they must take their leave.” He looked up at Garak. “But I don’t want you to leave my life. I don’t care if that makes me naive or stupid. I don’t know how any of this would work, but…”

“It doesn’t make you any of those things. You’re a dreamer, Julian. It’s just that sometimes…” Garak fought with himself over what he was about to say, and it hurt him to do so, but he had to: “...sometimes our dreams can’t come true.”

“I don’t believe that!” Julian cried, leaning forward (and precariously over the side of the rock) and planting his palms in front of himself. “I refuse to believe that! I dreamt my whole life of traveling beyond this damn water and I got my wish!”

“You almost died.”

“Better I die in the stars instead in the waves.” He lifted his chin in that regal way of his. “I refuse to believe that the life we are given is the life we are destined to live. I mean, Garak, _look at me!_ I’m not even the son my father wanted! I’m not even the person I was when I came into this world! I am living proof that anything is possible if you truly want it to be.” Tears glimmered in his wide eyes. “I refuse to believe we can’t be together. We just...we just need to find a way, that’s all… I mean, maybe you could build a place to live here, and we can…”

“We will never truly be _together_ , though, Julian.”

“It’s not fair! I love you, Garak! I want to be human so I can be with you! I wish that procedure hadn’t failed! I hate this! I hate this so much! I…” He choked on his tears and turned away. “God, I’m a mess. No wonder my father thinks I’m weak. All I want is to be loved!” He sniffled and turned back to Garak. “I'm sorry, but you’re the first person I’ve ever met to love me for _me_. You haven’t tried to change me, haven’t told me not to do this or that...you just...I just…” He shut his eyes tight and pounded his fists into the stone. “I don’t want to give you up! I don’t want to lose you!”

Garak said nothing as Julian sobbed. Even in this pathetic state, he was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. The way the moonlight danced across his scales was pure poetry. He hated himself to find his lover beautiful even in a state of despair, but it was hard not to. It did, however, hurt Garak’s heart to see Julian so distraught.

“Of course I love you for who you are,” Garak finally spoke, reaching out and putting his hand on Julian’s. “That means whether you’re a mermale or a human male. I don’t want you changing yourself...putting your life at risk just so we can be together. I don’t want you to regret your decision.” He paused. “I don’t want you to look back on your life and resent what you’ve become… I don’t want you to resent me.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Julian asked, wiping his eyes on the back of his arm. “I’ve wanted to be a human since I was a little boy. I used to watch the ships come into the harbor and dream about the different types of people and aliens on board. I wanted to hear their stories and see their worlds. I wanted to dance and jump and run and…” He sighed and tilted his head back. “I’ve wanted to see the stars, see other worlds, go where no one’s gone before.” He  turned his head to Garak and smirked. “You, my dear, are just a delicious bonus.”

Garak had to laugh at that. “So long as you’re happy, that’s all I care about.”

“So stay here with me. Please, Garak. Don’t go back to Cardassia.”

“My dear, even if I _wanted_ to, I can’t go back.”

“So then you _can_ be here with me!” Julian grabbed Garak’s hands in his own, his face alight. “I can live through anything so long as you’re by my side.”

Garak’s heart was breaking. “I can’t, Julian. I need to disappear. The first place Cardassia is going to look for me and Parmak will be here. That means you’re in danger, too.”

“I can fight them! Look what I did to Dukat!”

“He’s just one of many, many other Cardassians who will kill us. Not just me and Parmak. You as well. And you want so desperately to live, why would you want to die?”

“If it’s for you…”

“Don’t you even dare,” Garak warned, changing his tone. “If you’re willing to throw your life away for anyone’s, even if it is mine, you are not the man I fell in love with.”

Julian was silent. He slid off his stone and onto Garak’s, pressing his forehead into Garak’s. “What are we supposed to do, then?”

Garak closed his eyes. The smell of the sea was so strong on Julian. He doubted he could ever smell the salty air again and not think of his lover. “We enjoy the time we have left, however brief it may be,” he replied, stroking Julian’s cheek.

Julian leaned into his touch. “One more time.”

Garak opened his eyes. Julian’s looked at him in earnest.

“Once more. You and me. Make love to me one more time.” Now Julian stroked Garak’s face. “If I can’t have you _with_ me…” He laughed quietly. “I’ll have you _within_ me.”

Garak laughed and put his lips to Julian’s. It looked like he’d get his dream of sex with a mermale on a beach after all.

Maybe Julian’s ideas about following your dreams aren’t too far-fetched after all.

 

***

 

Parmak made contact with the Federation the next day. He received word that the Federation would fly out to their island to speak with them.

“Why do they need to speak to us?” Julian asked.

“Because _someone_ killed two Cardassians and that _might_ cause a diplomatic incident,” Parmak replied, raising an eyebrow ridge at Julian.

Julian huffed. “It was self-defense,” he replied haughtily. “I was in danger. I’m perfectly within my rights.”

“We’ll see if their representative agrees with you.”

A small run-about landed at the island shortly after midday. A tall dark-skinned man strode out of the craft, a younger woman with spotted skin following him. The man nodded to Parmak. “I’m Commander Benjamin Sisko, and this is my science officer, Lieutenant Jadzia Dax. I hear you’ve…” He studied the ship behind them. “...had an _interesting_ adventure.”

“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Parmak replied with a wry smile. He nodded to Garak and Quark. “These are my associates, Elim Garak and Quark.”

Sisko nodded at both of them in greeting. “You mentioned a mermale. I was under the impression that they didn’t exist anymore.”

“They do. There’s a colony of them in the North Sea that controls shipping, and there’s a colony in the Red Sea. I assume they’re elsewhere.”

Sisko raised a brow and turned to Dax. “Learn something every day on this job,” he said with a little smile. He turned back to Parmak. “Where is he? I’d like to meet him.”

“Oh, Julian? Just a moment.” Parmak looked toward the rocks where Julian enjoyed perching, but he was nowhere to be found. “Julian? Julian, where’ve you got to?”

“I’m right here,” Julian replied, peeking out from behind his normal perching rock. He eyed Sisko suspiciously.

“Now if you want to be human, you can’t be so wary,” Parmak instructed. He gestured. “Come out, dear. They’re from the Federation and wish to speak with you.”

Julian slowly came forward and tilted his head back and forth just as he’d done on Cardassia. “Who are you?”

“I am Commander Sisko,” Sisko introduced. He nodded at the younger woman behind him. “And this is Lieutenant Dax. We represent the science division of Starfleet, which is part of the Federation. We hear you were human briefly.”

“That’s right,” Julian replied warily. He looked from Sisko to Dax, blushing slightly at the beautiful spotted woman. He averted his eyes and looked back to Sisko. “Why do you ask?”

“Doctor Parmak here has explained the experiment to us in detail, including all of his notes,” Dax said, stepping forward and holding a tricorder in her hand. “And though I think you should remain as you are…”

“At ease, Lieutenant,” Sisko ordered quietly.

“Sorry, sir. I mean it in the best way…”

“Lieutenant…”

“Right.” She nodded at Julian. “We’ve studied Doctor Parmak’s notes and...we want to see if we can make the change permanent.”

To everyone’s surprise, Julian did not seem excited about this news. “Truly?” he asked.

“We can’t guarantee anything,” Dax went on, “but I’m confident we could, in time, make this happen.”

“Having it take in a short time is not always a good thing,” Parmak explained. “Wouldn’t you rather the change be more gradual? That way, they’d be more confident it was sticking.”

“Probably wouldn’t be as painful as it was, too,” Quark chimed in.

Julian considered this. “What would happen to Garak and the others?”

“‘The others’,” Quark grumbled. “Not like we had anything to do with it.”

“Shut up, Quark,” Julian snapped.

“That’s up to them,” Sisko replied. “Of course, because two Cardassians are dead…”

“ _It was self-defense!_ ”

“I understand that. But we’re the ones on the hook for this. Uh…” he hesitated, seeing Julian’s reaction, “...perhaps not the right turn of phrase.” He cleared his throat as Dax gave him a look. “I mean to say, we can’t allow Mister Garak and Doctor Parmak to remain on Earth. It would be too much of a liability for the Federation.” He turned to the Cardassians. “It might mean giving you new identities and transporting you to Federation planets, just for protection.”

“Never mind that we still look like Cardassians on the run from our government, you mean,” Garak pointed out.

Sisko faintly smiled. “You have my assurance that no harm will come to either of you. As for you, Mister Quark…do you have any other...talents than black market trading?”

Quark narrowed his eyes. “Like what…?”

“I don’t know...bartending, for instance.”

“I...I could learn it. Why?”

“We might have a position for you at a newly acquired Federation outpost, if you’re interested.”

Quark’s ears twitched. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll speak about it momentarily. The main concern right now is Mister Julian.” Sisko turned to Julian. “You also would be under Federation protection, but you’d have to relocate to our San Francisco headquarters. It’s quite a long way from here, and you’d be restricted to the area for as long as the trials are taking place.”

“I was stuck in the North Sea for most of my bloody life,” Julian sighed, “I suppose San Francisco isn’t too bad.”

“There are lots of seals there,” Parmak noted. “Maybe you’ll find a new friend.”

Julian gave Parmak a “really?” look.

“So? Do we have an agreement?” Sisko asked.

Julian looked from Sisko to Garak, just as he used to on Cardassia when he had no voice. The same confused look, the same look asking for an answer. Garak stepped forward and smiled kindly at Julian.

“Your dreams are coming true, my dear,” he said gently. “You already traveled through space. Wouldn’t you like to do it again?”

“Not without you.”

“We have to make sure Garak and Parmak are safely hidden away, though,” Sisko reminded Julian. “You have to understand their lives are at risk now.”

“But _I_ …”

“It doesn’t matter what you did, Julian. You have to stay in Federation waters so the Cardassians can’t harm you, either.” He paused. “If you truly care about Mister Garak and Doctor Parmak, you must trust us to spirit them away. I’m sure they’d want us to take good care of you as well.”

Julian’s eyes began to fill with tears. Eventually, he lowered his head and nodded. “Yes,” he answered. “I’ll go with you.”

Sisko smiled at him. “I promise you and they are in good hands. Doctor Parmak, if you wouldn’t mind speaking with Dax about a couple of things? I need to investigate your ship.”

Parmak bowed his head as Sisko and Quark walked back to the ship. He turned to Julian and smiled, tears shimmering in his eyes. “I’m so glad to have met you, my dear Julian,” he spoke.

“I’m glad I met you, too,” Julian replied, feigning a smile as he held back his tears.

Parmak cleared his throat and walked off with Dax, leaving Garak and Julian alone once again.

“I _will_ find you,” Julian declared. “I _will_ become human and I _will_ find you.”

“If the Federation does their job...no, you won’t,” Garak replied, shaking his head.

“You forget who you’re talking to.” Julian smiled cheekily. “I have my ways.”

“I’ve no doubt.” Garak walked to Julian and sat down on the beach, holding up his hand. Julian swam over and put his hand to Garak’s, just as they’d done the first day they’d met.

“Don’t forget me,” Julian whispered, his voice trembling.

Garak smiled. “Don’t you forget me.”

Julian’s breath hitched as he threaded his fingers between Garak’s and pressed his forehead to Garak’s one last time. “I love you.”

“Not nearly as much as I love you,” Garak whispered. He gently kissed Julian, trying to press the taste of the mermale into his memory. It'd be all either of them would have of the other after today.


	12. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twenty-five years later...

Elim Garak crossed into the burying ground, a small bundle of flowers and two small tea buns on an ornate plate. It had been three years since Kelas Parmak had died, but he died a free man. He and Garak had spent the past twenty-five years living in relative solitude on this small, out-of-the-way Federation planet, working respectively as a tailor and a hair stylist. It was a modest living, a bit dull sometimes, but both Garak and Parmak came to be quite respected in the little town they were placed in.

Today would’ve been Parmak’s birthday. He was older than Garak, though not by much. With Parmak dying, Garak wondered if his own time was coming soon. 

It would be a fitting end to a long, storied life.

Garak took a deep breath and walked to Parmak’s tombstone. To his surprise, another person was already there. They were wearing a brown cloak with the hood up. The person had a slight figure.  _ Probably a woman paying her respects and wishing she could find another decent stylist _ , Garak thought with a laugh. 

A hand reached out from beneath the cloak to stroke to cool stone tablet - a human hand. It wasn’t young but it wasn’t old either. It was worn, but not by much. 

It also was the color of freshly polished copper.

No. No it couldn’t be. The Federation had hidden him and Parmak away so well even they didn’t quite know where they were. If there was a god, it wouldn’t be able to find them either.

Garak cleared his throat. “Excuse me, dear,” he spoke. “I’ve come to pay my respects.”

The hand recoiled a little, and the person it was attached to tensed. Shakily it rose to its feet, bracing itself on a cane.

“What a coincidence! So am I!” the person replied. It was a man. His voice reverberated through Garak’s skull. No. Dear God no it can’t possibly…

The man turned around and lowered his hood, causing Garak to let out an audible gasp. Two brilliant hazel eyes, lightly lined around their edges, shimmered in the sunlight. Dark brown curls were starting to grey. There were more lines than the last time Garak saw the man, but he couldn’t mistake who stood before him. 

_ Stood _ .

Garak looked down and saw two impossibly long legs beneath dark thin pants. Ten perfect toes peeked out from his sandals. There were the faintest bits of metal flashing beneath the cuffs of his trousers. The man’s grip on the silver cane changed as he shifted his weight slightly.

The human male smiled back at Garak and held up his hand. “Hello, my dear Mister Garak. I told you I’d find you someday.”

Garak was utterly speechless. His mouth hung open, shocked into silence as his lover, twenty-five years older, stood before him like an angel. It was like a dream. This couldn’t be real. Perhaps Death had finally come for him in the form a human Julian. 

Garak lowered the flowers and tea buns to the ground. He shakily put his hand to Julian’s, and Julian threaded his fingers between Garak’s.

“Perfect fit,” he said. “As if we never parted.”

Garak was suddenly overcome with emotion. With a happy shout he pulled Julian into himself and kissed him deeply, passionately. Twenty-five years and countless light years had separated them. The past was over. The future could begin.

“Ah, ah, wait...hang on…” Julian winced, breaking the kiss and repositioning his cane.

“What did they do to you?” Garak asked. “Why do you need a cane? I thought they’d make it permanent!”

“Oh they did!” Julian affirmed. He lifted one of the legs of his pants to reveal a series of metal braces clamped around his legs. “They help me stand longer and without the pain I had earlier. I haven’t run any marathons but I at least can walk. Oh, look!” He took Garak’s hands and put them on either side of his throat. To Garak’s surprise, all that he felt was slightly raised skin.

“I don’t…”

“They’re gone,” Julian interrupted, a smile forming on his lips. “They, uh...they fell off with the treatment. Unfortunate side effect...well, that’s what the doctors said. I don’t mind… Oh, oh! One last thing!” He took Garak’s hands once more and placed them along his spine. His now smooth spine.

“They’re gone too,” Julian explained. “I can sleep on my back!” He hesitated. “It’s not the prettiest sight back there but…”

“Julian, you are the prettiest sight I’ve beheld in years!” Garak interrupted, pulling him close again. “But how…”

Julian pulled away slowly. “Let’s just say I’m...quite  _ persistent  _ in my ways,” he replied coyly.

“You annoyed them to death, didn’t you.”

Julian laughed. “You know me too well, my dear Mister Garak.”

Garak laughed as well, tears forming in his eyes. He put a hand to Julian’s cheek, which Julian leaned into and nuzzled, his eyes closed. The blue-purple blush slowly reappeared on his cheeks and, thanks to Julian’s partially unbuttoned shirt, the great bird was unfurling his wings across Julian’s chest. This really and truly was his love.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” Julian spoke, his eyes slowly opening. “I did everything I could to get to you and…” His breath hitched and he swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry…”

“He would be so happy to see you, my dear,” Garak said with a smile. “He was always so fond of you. He told me you were his greatest achievement in so, so many ways.”

Julian began to cry. “I wish I could thank him.”

“He knew, dear. He never thought otherwise.” Garak kissed Julian’s forehead. “My dear, dear Julian. Oh my dear, dear Julian…”

“I’m here, Garak, I’m here…” He nuzzled his nose with Garak’s. “I’m never leaving your side ever again.”

“Come, my love,” Garak whispered, stroking Julian’s hair. “Once more.”

“Hopefully more than once more,” Julian giggled.

“Forever more?”

Julian smiled. “Forever more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm totally not crying, you are...
> 
> This ending is for all of you out there. Happy endings do exist - never forget that. Always follow your dreams and you'll find your own, too!
> 
> THANKS FOR READING, EVERYONE! SEE YOU NEXT TIME!


End file.
